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Lumina

Lumina Foundation is committed to increasing the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees, certificates and other credentials to 60 percent by 2025.

February 4, 2025

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Yes, the Country’s People Are Better Trained and Educated as We Begin 2025

Jamie Merisotis, Lumina Foundation

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The United States is edging toward 60 percent of working-age adults having college degrees or credentials with labor market value—a milestone set by Lumina Foundation and like-minded leaders 17 years ago to meet the growing economic needs of the nation and its people.

 

The movement that advanced this goal of educating more Americans won no widespread acclaim, yet it sparked a momentous mindset shift among state and college leaders. But the work is far from over—our collective efforts must continue to evolve until learning beyond high school prepares every graduate to thrive economically.

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Rhode Island Inmates Learn to Code Behind Bars

Steph Machado, Rhode Island PBS Weekly

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Every day inside this medium-security prison in Cranston, Rhode Island, more than a dozen inmates are learning how to speak the language of computers by becoming coders. They're hoping high demand for skills in web development and software design could lead to jobs that keep them out of prison for good.

 

The class, which meets five days a week, is unlike any other educational program offered in Rhode Island's prisons. For one, the students have laptops, which they get to take outside the classroom. Wayne Salisbury, director of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, explains more in this interview.

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A One-Stop Shop for First-Gen Excellence

Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher Ed

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While first-generation students are a growing population in higher education, they remain less likely to retain or complete a credential compared to their continuing-generation peers.

 

A new initiative at the University of South Carolina aims to empower first-generation learners through a new center that unites offices across campus and offers embedded academic and socioemotional support.

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For Former Foster Care Students, College Help Exists Long After Exiting the System

Betty Márquez Rosales, EdSource

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The majority of current and former foster youth report an interest in attending and graduating from college, but few do so. What does it take to help them get there?

 

Since its inception in 1998 at Cal State Fullerton, a program called Guardian Scholars has been working to answer this question with supports and resources that help build a pathway to and through college for students with foster care experience.

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Colleges Around the US Cautiously Navigate Trump's DEI Crackdown

Maryclaire Dale, Associated Press

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In Boston, Northeastern University renamed a program for underrepresented students, emphasizing “belonging” for all. In New Jersey, a session at Rutgers University catering to students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities had to be abruptly canceled. Around the United States, colleges are assessing program names and titles that could run afoul of a Trump administration crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

 

As they figure out how to adapt, some schools are staying quiet out of uncertainty or fear. Others have vowed to stand firm.

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Demand for Immigration Legal Services Spikes at California Colleges

Delilah Brumer and Mercy Sosa, CalMatters

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It’s been difficult for "Carlos," a student at Sacramento State University, to concentrate on his studies since Donald Trump’s election win. News stories about Trump's immigration and deportation plans are a constant reminder of his undocumented status and risk of deportation under the new administration.

 

Many of California’s estimated 100,000 undocumented college students are grappling with the same concerns. In response, Dream centers on many campuses are stepping in to provide guidance and meet the skyrocketing demand for legal services from students.

HUMAN WORK AND LEARNING

Views: We Must Acknowledge That Students Are Asking for Options Beyond the Four-Year College Degree

Kathleen deLaski, The Hechinger Report

Skills Trump GPA: Employers Seek Problem-Solving, Teamwork in New Grad Hires

Walter Hudson, Diverse Issues in Higher Education

Undergraduate Certificate Programs Soar in Popularity Amid Changes to Labor Market

Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill

Opinion: Community Colleges Offer Lifeline in Times of Natural Disaster

Luis G. Pedraja, Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Opinion: The Lesson Higher Education Needs to Learn

Ulrik Juul Christensen, Forbes

EQUITY IN EDUCATION

Scholar and Author Ibram X. Kendi Leaving BU for Howard University

Emily Piper-Vallillo, WBUR

DeSantis Appoints Controversial Trustees to UWF Board, Including Anti-DEI Advocate

Jacob Rampino, USA Today

The Race-Blind College-Admissions Era Is Off to a Weird Start

Rose Horowitch, The Atlantic

Trump Might Investigate These Ohio and Kentucky Universities in Effort to Eliminate DEI

Madeline Mitchell, Cincinnati Enquirer

PRISON EDUCATION

For UNT Criminal Justice Students—and Their Classmates at a Correctional Facility—Education Is an Equalizer 

Lucinda Breeding-Gonzales, The Denton Record-Chronicle

Views: Justice Matters: We Should Expand College Access for Incarcerated People

Debra Turner, Daily News-Record

Commentary: Alabama Has a Premier Prison Education Program

Steve Flowers, The Tuscaloosa News

STATE POLICY

State Higher Ed Funding Up, But ‘Volatility’ Looms

Liam Knox, Inside Higher Ed

Utah Bill Remaking Higher Ed Clears Hurdle

Jason Swensen, Deseret News

Ohio Foster-to-College Bill Aims to Bring Kids Out of System, Into Higher Ed, Career Tech

Susan Tebben, Ohio Capital Journal

NEW REPORTS AND EVENTS

Webinar: New Orders and New Challenges for Higher Education

dotEDU Live

The Gainful Employment Rule Under a Second Trump Administration

Urban Institute

Virtual Forum: The New International Student

The Chronicle of Higher Education

luminafoundation.org
Daily Lumina News is edited by Patricia Brennan.

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