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.
As enrollment declines and political scrutiny reshape higher education, the humanities are facing mounting pressures, ranging from budget cuts and shrinking federal support to a growing emphasis on workforce-aligned degrees.
At the City University of New York’s Macaulay Honors College, that pressure is colliding with a different goal: preparing students for graduate study in fields that are increasingly difficult to fund. To help bridge that gap, a new $250,000 scholarship fund will support research, advising, and graduate preparation for undergraduates.
Ask a university president what happens to their graduates in the labor market, and the honest answer is often that they don't really know.
Now, a new partnership between the National Association of Higher Education Systems and the National Student Clearinghouse is attempting to build the connective tissue that higher education has been missing—linking academic records to labor market outcomes at the student level, across state lines, and over time. If it works, it could fundamentally change how institutions measure their value, how accreditors evaluate programs, how advisors guide students, and how the public decides whether higher education is worth the investment.
It is the time of year when college seniors are itching to graduate and looking forward to their first jobs out of school. But they're facing uncertainty in the job market. In fall 2025, a widely watched survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers predicted a dire employment outlook for spring graduates. But recently, an updated survey showed a turnaround, with employers expected to boost new-graduate hires.
Katie Jolicoeur, director of Career Services at Minnesota State University, Mankato, is helping soon-to-be college grads navigate the job market. She discusses the advice she gives them—plus the impact of artificial intelligence in the job market—in this interview.
Across the state of California, community colleges are rolling out bachelor’s degrees, aimed at students who have long been left out of the traditional four-year pipelines. This includes older working adults and place-bound students who would benefit from a less expensive local path to careers in fields such as health care and public safety.
Supporters of the community college bachelor's degree believe the programs represent an expansion of opportunity. But within the state's higher education system, the idea has sparked an intense and ongoing conflict, as leaders clash over whether two-year schools should step into four-year university territory.
Two years ago, as universities were cracking down on campus activism, a handful of Harvard professors decided to push back. Seven members joined a Zoom call. A few more trickled into meetings after that. Then Donald J. Trump became president again.
Membership in the group, Harvard’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, surged. Across the country, other professors built up their chapters of the association, too. Now, as dues pour in, the AAUP has turned into one of the Trump administration’s main antagonists.
At least 10 states have passed laws restricting the teaching of diversity, equity, and inclusion and critical race theory. In Texas, the resulting university policies set off a furious scramble to censor curricula. Meanwhile, hundreds of courses have been purged from Florida’s general-education curricula because of topics related to race or gender identity. A law student at Florida A&M University was told to remove the word “Black” from a Black History Month flyer (a ban that was later reversed by an administrator citing an “overly cautious” interpretation of Florida law).
Marvin Dunn, an 85-year-old professor emeritus at Florida International University, is doing his best to keep the resistance to such moves alive.
