Lumina Foundation is working to increase the share of adults in the U.S. labor force with college degrees or other credentials of value leading to economic prosperity.
For many students, artificial intelligence has been a godsend, helping them overcome learning deficits or poorly taught courses. Others appreciate the tools’ efficiency. In a world where students often juggle a full course load and work 20 hours a week or more, speed is crucial.
Cheating is, of course, a major problem associated with AI. Professors report a dramatic rise in AI-generated writing and other forms of misuse. Yet another, equally profound, change is taking place under the radar: increasingly, students are turning to artificial intelligence as an all-purpose study tool, recasting how they think about learning and reshaping their relationships with classmates and professors.
When the school year ends at Cape Cod Community College, Tom Schaefer gears up to begin his summer job as an education consultant. The gig is one of three extra jobs he works on top of his full-time position teaching English literature.
He's not alone in working more than one job. According to the Massachusetts Community College Council, the union that represents faculty and staff at community colleges, most of their members need to take on additional work to make a sustainable living. The union is pushing for higher wages at a time when more students are enrolling in community college and instructors are in demand.
Roughly two weeks after the Florida Board of Governors rejected Santa Ono as the next president of the University of Florida over his past support of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, members signed off on the hire of three new college leaders, all from the political world.
Across the United States, millions of students are derailed from their educational aspirations not by academic challenges but by unexpected financial emergencies and the overwhelming costs of balancing college with basic needs. This is especially true for student parents.
Emergency aid programs and targeted supports are not just lifelines for these individuals—they are critical investments in America’s economic future. A new series of reports explains more.
Over the past year, there’s been a growing narrative in business and media circles that Gen Z, a cohort born between 1997 and 2012, is starting to split in two. One half is described as entrepreneurial, image-conscious, and highly motivated. People label the other half as cautious, emotionally overwhelmed, or disengaged from traditional career ambition. It’s a neat storyline—and makes for a fantastic headline.
But from where Jeff LeBlanc sits—in a college classroom, year after year—it’s not that simple.
President Trump has waged a relentless attack on Harvard University and other Ivy League schools for months, freezing federal funding, issuing constant investigations, and enacting visa limitations for international students. Now, many students and others are filled with fear and uncertainty for their academic future.
In this interview, three higher education experts discuss the state of higher education in Trump 2.0 and beyond.