Tony Perez has never forgotten the day the sky fell and terror came to his campus. Perez, then the president of Borough of Manhattan Community College, was driving to work on Sept. 11, 2001, when he looked up and saw the attack on New York’s World Trade Center.

BMCC lost eight students and alumni plus a building in the terror attacks. On the 20th anniversary, lessons reverberate amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Student loans were supposed to be the ticket to the middle class. Instead, they grew to become a debt trap for millions of Americans, says Josh Mitchell, who covers economics and student debt for the Wall Street Journal. 

Economist Beth Akers interviews Mitchell on the history of the student loan system, what the student debt crisis is precisely, and what it means for the future of higher education policy.

Today's community college students typically accumulate up 82 credits when earning an associate degree—22 more than they should need. 

The guided pathways approach to community college reform aims to create a clear, structured path for students to earn a credential. California in particular has jumped on this concept, spending $150 million in 2018 on its guided pathways framework.