Lumina Foundation is committed to increasing the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees, certificates and other credentials to 60 percent by 2025.
Individual borrowers are not the only ones bearing the burden of late-life student debt—it likely affects the financial security of families across generations. Recent research shows that many older borrowers are also parents and caregivers who support aging parents, adult children, and even neighbors. Student loan payments that strain older borrowers' finances also affect families, communities, and the next generation.
Experts say that a few policy changes could ensure that, as student loan borrowers grow older, they can focus their energies on families and communities—not on decades-old student debt.
Burnout has been an issue in academe for some time. But recently, the stress of working in a sector battling for its very existence in the face of political attacks and public skepticism about the value of a college degree has also taken a toll. Many say that while they still love their work—and particularly working with students—they don’t know how long they can maintain their current pace.
Yasmine Mirhaji had planned out her last three years at American University’s School of International Service meticulously, taking classes on diplomacy and power. Inspired by her parents’ experience fleeing Iran to the United States decades ago, she dreamed about joining the U.S. State Department, which deals in foreign policy, and had applied for an internship at the agency.
But as the Trump administration and Elon Musk seek to cut agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, students like Mirhaji worry the fields they long dreamed of joining could dry up.
It's common practice for U.S. secretaries of education to come from a background in, well, education. That includes Betsy DeVos, President Donald J. Trump's previous, headline-grabbing education secretary, who had a well-documented record when it came to schools.
However, Linda McMahon, Trump's current nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Education, deviates from the norm. McMahon has a limited background in education and a long career as a business executive. On Thursday, McMahon's confirmation process gets underway.
The dramatic decline in legacy admissions has been swift, according to a new study from Education Reform Now. Just between 2022 and 2023, 92 colleges stopped considering legacy status—an 18 percent decline in one year. And even more have dropped legacy admissions since then.
Of the colleges that nixed the practice, 86 percent did so via voluntary institutional decision, while 14 percent were complying with legislation.
Standing outside the U.S. Department of Education, a group of congressional Democrats had one question for acting education secretary Denise Carter: “Will you comply with an executive order to shut down the department?”
But the Democrats, led by Representative Mark Takano of California, didn’t get a chance to ask that question. A security guard denied them entry, saying they needed an appointment or escort.
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