Photo: Yunen Bonaparte/The Hechinger Report

Approximately 113,000 students took leaves of absence from college in 2021, which included medical leaves for mental health reasons.

There are programs specifically designed to help students on a leave of absence improve their mental health and prepare to return to campus and graduate, but they are few, and most are prohibitively expensive. 

Nearly 70 percent of jobs in North Carolina now require high-quality credentials or postsecondary degrees, yet fewer than half of North Carolinians ages 25-44 meet those qualifications.

OurFutureENC, a partnership with community colleges and school systems, aims to close that skills gap with the launch of new programs and resources to help first-generation students and students from low-income backgrounds. 

Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

The Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade has captured the world’s attention, but the court also issued consequential rulings on issues involving schools that could have long-lasting repercussions.

The unrestrained approach that it displayed in overturning Roe and other precedents throws open the question of what other cases the high court might revisit that could affect American education.