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.
A recent live recording of Lumina Foundation's Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Talent podcast provides an in-depth look at the Great Admissions Redesign, a growing national movement aimed at simplifying college admissions and rethinking our understanding of the process.
As part of the conversation, three higher education insiders describe how they are reinventing college admissions to create "student-first" systems for today’s learners.
Multiple colleges and universities, including some ultrawealthy ones, have announced plans to cut jobs and academic programs, as well as implement other changes, due to financial challenges driven by a range of factors.
For some institutions, belt-tightening measures are directly tied to the economic forces battering the sector as a whole: declining enrollments, rising operating expenses, and broad economic uncertainty. Others attribute their cuts to financial pressure from the Trump administration, which has frozen federal research funding at multiple institutions. State lawmakers, too, have also forced program reductions at some public institutions.
Gregory N. Washington, George Mason University’s first Black president, runs an institution that prizes diversity, equity, and inclusion. That commitment has made him a target of the Trump administration.
The Trump administration accuses Washington of violating the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against white academics in hiring and promotions. The administration is also demanding a personal public apology from Washington over his efforts to support diversity programs. Washington, however, refuses. His stance puts him on a short list of higher education leaders to explicitly and publicly challenge President Donald Trump.
At Dominican University of California, a private institution with just over 1,100 students, nearly 30 percent of the student population identify as Hispanic or Latino. The university received its first Hispanic-Serving Institutions program funding in 2022—a five-year, $3-million grant to increase enrollment and improve graduation and retention rates for undergraduate Latino students. It received another $3 million grant the following year to provide services for its graduate students.
The school's president, Nicola Pitchford, says several of the resources offered to students are now at risk of going away. In this interview, Pitchford talks about the role that the HSI program plays at her institution and what’s at stake if it disappears.
Disasters often expose needs people typically overlook—and clarify their responsibilities.
California’s community colleges are a part of the communities they serve, giving them a profound understanding of both the challenges and the opportunities that emerge in moments of crisis. Pasadena City College has played this role over the last 100 years, stepping up again during the recent Eaton Fire and continuing to lead in the difficult work of recovery. The college is a hub for uniting partners, aligning resources, and helping chart a path forward.
While students in Bucks County and Pennsylvania are returning to school, the need for more teachers to staff their classrooms persists. While it's not a novel issue, many have identified it as one of the most significant challenges facing the state.
In response, several Bucks County school districts and state agencies are launching programs to recruit and train for careers in education. From high school internships to teaching apprenticeships for paraprofessionals, they are investing in their people to strengthen the teaching workforce.
