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.
Student mental health remains one of the most pressing—and complex—challenges facing higher education today.
In this interview, Katie Hurley of The Jed Foundation discusses the state of student mental health on college campuses, including what’s driving increased demand for support, how counseling centers are adapting under strain, and why student experiences vary so widely across different contexts and identities. The conversation also examines where colleges and universities continue to face challenges—and what a more comprehensive approach to campus mental health could look like.
If everything goes according to Sal Khan’s plan, within the next year or two, students will be able to earn an artificial intelligence-focused degree that is far faster and cheaper than they can at traditional colleges and universities. The degree is offered through Khan's new venture, the Khan TED Institute, a collaboration with Educational Testing Service, TED, and corporate partners like Google, Microsoft, and Accenture.
Experts, however, say proving the degree’s value to students, employers, and accreditors will take time—if it happens at all.
Frank Bruni’s classroom has gotten a bit bleak lately. As a faculty member at Duke University, the longtime writer for TheNew York Times often finds himself talking about grim trends: the decline of local news, threats against a free press, and the corrosive nature of political polarization.
But Bruni says he’s trying to strike a delicate balance with his students, who need reasons for hope as much as they need a clear-eyed regard for the challenges ahead.
An early education teacher in California’s Central Valley may soon be forced out of the classroom as delays in renewing her immigration status and work authorization stretch far beyond the usual timeline. Her renewal is still “processing.” If uprooted from the classroom, the students in her class will lose their teacher overnight.
Across the nation, recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program—which include thousands of educators in California—are facing extremely long renewal delays lasting over five months, leaving schools at risk of sudden staffing disruptions and exposing the vulnerabilities of a temporary immigration status.
For her class presentation on how the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement affected migrant workers, Celina Martinez relied on Yo Soy STEM, a San Diego City College program geared toward low-income Hispanic students. As part of the program, she received tutoring to accelerate her research, engaged in workshops, and gained access to valuable resources.
Yo Soy STEM is one of hundreds of programs at risk of losing its funding if President Trump’s proposal to slash $354 million from a grant program that supports minority-serving institutions is passed by Congress in coming months.
William Freeman and Aaron Kinzel believe Michigan can show the country what it looks like to treat higher education in prison as a public good, one that strengthens families, communities, and the workforce. They understand this not as a slogan but as individuals who have had to rebuild their lives after incarceration.
In this op-ed, Freeman and Kinzel explain why Michigan must keep building a college-in-prison system that doesn’t end at the prison gate but invests in human potential and true workforce outcomes.
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