Lumina Foundation is committed to increasing the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees, certificates and other credentials to 60 percent by 2025.
The world of higher ed has changed significantly since the pandemic, with colleges across the country facing declining enrollments, budget shortfalls, faculty burnout, and financial distress. Many small colleges in particular are struggling to survive and thrive. On this episode of Future U, Lynn Perry Wooten of Simmons University draws on her extensive research in crisis leadership to provide rare insights into the tough decisions small college leaders face today.
College hopefuls are already waiting longer than usual for their financial aid offers this year, due to the delayed release of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. But what applicants may not realize is that this year's FAFSA also comes with a big mistake—one that will lower the amount of federal financial aid many receive unless it's remedied soon.
Across higher education, colleges and universities are tapping their student population to support learners, in part because counseling staff can’t accommodate the high levels of demand, but also because students prefer it. Experts say one of the reasons students turn to peers is they may be looking for someone who can empathize with their situation, or their concern doesn’t seem “important enough” to warrant professional help.
On this much, Claudine Gay, now the former president of Harvard University, and Christopher F. Rufo, a conservative activist who crusaded for her ouster, can agree: Her resignation is about much more than just her. Lost amid the talk, however, is how, exactly, Harvard dealt with the allegations that snowballed into a crisis.
The Biden administration is considering slapping new regulations on colleges to curb hidden fees for things such as food and textbooks. The changes are part of a bundle of reforms currently being debated by the U.S. Department Education. The talks are largely centered on heightening federal scrutiny of the higher education industry—a priority President Joe Biden has indicated is a piece of his efforts to bring down the soaring cost of college and ease the student loan debt it causes.
College students graduating this year have gotten mixed signals about the strength of the job market, but this much is clear: Preparation is everything when it comes to a solid career launch. Now it’s spring semester, when job and internship searches are most urgent. This is crunch time for the schools, too: By building solid on-ramps to internships and jobs, colleges can go a long way toward satisfying their most important stakeholders: the graduates, writes Lumina Foundation's Jamie Merisotis in his latest column for Forbes.
