Incarcerated students and their supporters celebrated when Congress lifted the 26-year ban on Pell Grants for people in prison, a decision that took effect in July. Many people expected college-in-prison programs to balloon, with higher ed institutions taking advantage of new Pell dollars to expand access to these efforts.

But the reality is playing out differently, as corrections agencies and colleges encounter a slow and bureaucratic process of ensuring the quality of new or expanded programs and that they meet federal requirements.

Declining college enrollment is opening up a new and bigger conversation about the value of a college degree.

On this episode of Where We Live, Lumina Foundation's Courtney Brown discusses the changing face of today's learners and what they need to survive and thrive. High school counselor Steve Schneider and the Brookings Institution's Katharine Meyer join the conversation with their thoughts on college costs, alternative college pathways, and more. 

Amid national discussions on the value of higher education—and whether college is even needed to land family-sustaining jobs—a new report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce puts it plain and simple: Nearly three-fourths of all U.S. jobs through 2031 will require some form of postsecondary education or training.

Says Anthony P. Carnevale, CEW director and lead author on the report: "Postsecondary education is no longer the preferred pathway to middle-class jobs; it is increasingly the only pathway.”