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Ted Kermes, 32, found his niche in solar energy—and a good job at MN Solar near Minneapolis—by a roundabout route. After earning an associate degree in film and a bachelor’s in history, he worked in customer service and as a substitute teacher before finding his career path.
More students are discovering the potential benefits of green degrees or certifications—and with good reason. These programs represent some of the fastest-growing and financially rewarding occupations in the country.

For more than 33 million people living in education deserts, college-going can be a challenging and difficult experience. In addition to long commutes, homesickness, and culture shock, many rural students arrive to college underprepared in key subjects like math and science.
That’s why these students need a little extra help both adjusting to and staying in school. It's also why they need someone like Julie Pettitt-Booth who understands what they’re going through as they adapt to college and the big city for the first time.

College presidents across the country are taking fierce criticism for their untimely—or complete lack of—responses to the violence in Israel and Gaza.
George Mason University, in Fairfax, Virginia, about 20 miles outside Washington, D.C., is one of the most diverse colleges in the state. Almost a quarter of its students come from impoverished families. This makes its responses to national and global issues even more crucial, say college leaders there.

Admissions officers and application readers have their work cut out for them this fall, including how to build a diverse class while complying with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ban on affirmative action and how to identify essays written by ChatGPT.
They also face another vexing challenge: assessing the college readiness of applicants who started high school on Zoom during the pandemic and whose education was disrupted to the point that it's hard to know how much they actually learned in secondary school.

Two recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings—a ban on race-conscious admissions and the failure of President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan—are shaking the foundation of higher education.
Seattle Magazine reached out to six top-level higher education officials across Washington state and asked them three questions around affirmative action, college affordability, and state funding models. Here are their answers, in their own words.

Last month, the California State University board of trustees voted to increase tuition by 6 percent each year for the next five years to help fill a budget gap of $1.5 billion. For reference, this means that in 2024, the annual increase of $342 will result in full-time undergraduate students paying tuition of $6,084, with annual tuition reaching $7,682 by the 2028-29 school year.
For many students, the tuition hike is stoking fear and frustration for their future college plans.