Lumina Foundation is committed to increasing the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees, certificates and other credentials to 60 percent by 2025. |
| Kate Perez, The Seattle Times SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn As a child, Patti Gorman was enthralled by politics. That fascination continued into adulthood, and today, her passion is to get young people involved with voting. Gorman, 76, achieves this by dressing up as the Statue of Liberty at Seattle Central College. The service learning coordinator, who goes by the name “Ms. Liberty” on campus, educates students on the importance of voting in an eye-catching way. Ms. Liberty is a way one local college is advocating for students to get out and vote. According to U.S. census data, 48 percent of people ages 18 to 24 voted in the 2020 presidential election, compared with 78 percent of those 60 or older. |
| Emily Kwong, Rebecca Ramirez, Regina G. Barber, and Rachel Carlson, NPR SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn For blind and low vision adults, the ability to read braille can be life-changing. Braille literacy is directly linked to higher rates of academic success and better employment outcomes for them. But there's a problem. The United States is facing a national shortage of qualified braille teachers and there's a lack of scientific research around braille overall. An interdisciplinary team led by linguist Robert Englebretson wants to change that. |
| Paul Fain, Work Shift SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn Higher education has been slow to respond to the increasing demand for digital credentials—specifically skills-focused microcredentials and badges. If the industry can speed up the adoption of systems for learners to display their learning achievements and job skills, it could help to reinforce sagging public belief in the relevance of an education beyond high school. That’s the founding premise of a recently formed coalition of national college associations, including the campus registrars’ group, the American Council of Education, and the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Their goal is to accelerate the use of learning and employment records, as well as digital wallets. |
| Lauren Coffey, Inside Higher Ed SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn When Yao Xie got her start as an assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, she thought she would be researching machine learning, statistics, and algorithms to help with real-world problems. She has now completed a seven-year stint doing just that, but with an unlikely partner: the Atlanta Police Department. Xie is part of a growing group of professors at higher education institutions teaming up with neighboring law enforcement agencies to chip away at the potential of AI for police departments—while they also deal with challenges inherent to the technology. |
| Gabriella Pinos and Carl Lisciandrello, WUSF SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn Former University of Florida president Ben Sasse’s office spent $17.3 million in his first year, more than triple that of what Sasse’s predecessor spent in his last year. According to an investigation by The Independent Florida Alligator, Sasse—a former Nebraska senator—hired six former staffers and two former Republican officials at salaries into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. In this interview, reporter Garrett Shanley discusses the report's findings and what's next for those involved. |
| Asia Alexander, Forbes SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn Marsha McGriff was in Mexico celebrating with college sorority sisters the 20th anniversary of their induction into Delta Sigma Theta when she got an urgent call from the president of the University of Florida. She soon learned that the university was eliminating her job as chief diversity officer and her 27-person staff. Since 2023, the movement to bar diversity, equity, and inclusion offices, spending, and training has caught fire among Republicans. Some schools, including those in Florida, Texas, and Utah, have slashed positions. Others are taking a more nuanced approach, renaming DEI offices and moving staff into new positions and programs with more broadly (and some might say euphemistically) defined missions. |
| Caroline Marshall Reinhart, Arizona Daily Sun |
| Ashley Sloboda, The Journal Gazette |
| Milla Surjadi, The Wall Street Journal |
| Mitch Daniels, The Washington Post |
| Mautra Staley Jones, The Oklahoman |
| Bennie L. Harris, Greenville News |
| Richelle Wilson, Wisconsin Public Radio |
| Belinda M. Paschal, The Columbus Dispatch |
| Ashley Mowreader, Inside Higher Ed |
| Steve Buchiere, Finger Lakes Times |
| Keenan Thomas, Knoxville News Sentinel |
| Ricardo Azziz, Higher Ed Dive |
| Sarah Wood, U.S. News & World Report |
| Bryan Spears, Maryland Matters |
| Johnny Jackson, Diverse Issues in Higher Education |
| Lori Kersey, West Virginia Watch |
| Corrinne Hess, Wisconsin Public Radio |
| Eesha Pendharkar, Maine Morning Star |
| Steven Allen Adams, The Intelligencer |
| American Council on Education |
| National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement |
| The Chronicle of Higher Education |
| State Higher Education Executive Officers Association |
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