Top Higher Education News for Tuesday
Lumina Foundation is committed to increasing the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees, certificates and other credentials to 60 percent by 2025. | Sarah Brown, The Chronicle of Higher Education SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn Many of the Trump administration’s most drastic cost-cutting measures, such as pausing the flow of billions in federal funding and capping indirect costs for National Institutes of Health grants, have been temporarily blocked by courts. But some colleges and universities aren't taking any chances. They're considering their own freezes and cuts as precautions. | Sneha Dey, The Texas Tribune SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn Every Wednesday, students from South Texas College clock in for their shift at the largest hospital in town. Donning light blue scrubs and compression socks, they practice checking vitals on a mannequin. The 18 students are getting hands-on training at one of the first registered nursing apprenticeship programs in the country. Many will be the first in their family to graduate from college. Apprenticeships make it possible for Texas nursing students to make money right away instead of waiting years until they complete a degree. That could be appealing to adults who are impatient to start earning and wary of taking on loan debt. | Sophie Rentschler, Columbia Missourian SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn Revisions to policies, laws, and executive orders have their role in governing institutions, but at what point do they begin to affect the way students are expected to navigate their college experience? That is the question confronting the higher education community these days as they face the Trump administration's crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. In this interview, legal and advocacy experts encourage students, faculty, and staff to be aware of the triggers that allow these changes to take effect. | Jamie Merisotis, Lumina Foundation SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn Black History Month is not just a reflection on the past; it is a call to action. Black futures will write America’s future. We are challenged to confront ongoing racial inequities so that people and the nation can thrive. Education is more than just a part of that story. It’s a foundation for our shared success, writes Lumina Foundation's Jamie Merisotis in this perspective on Black History Month. | Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn Where 16-year-old Michelle Huang goes to college hinges largely on what happens with a massive, controversial higher education bill that the Ohio Senate recently passed. Huang, a junior at Olentangy Liberty High School in Delaware County, says she always imagined herself going to Ohio State University to study political science. However, she's not so sure anymore because of Ohio Senate Bill 1, which would, among other things, ban diversity and inclusion efforts and jeopardize diversity scholarships. | Lisa Kurian Philip, WBEZ SHARE: Facebook • LinkedIn Jose Vidaurri was released from prison four months ago. He says he understands why people fall into old patterns, commit new crimes, and end up returning to prison. But that isn't an option for Vidaurri. And he credits the education he started in prison for his new mindset. Research shows that higher education is effective at preventing people from re-offending. Yet just 615 out of 29,470 inmates in Illinois are enrolled in college classes. Legislation reintroduced this session could expand access by restoring state financial aid for incarcerated students. | Austin Sarat, Inside Higher Ed |
Ed Finkel, Community College Daily | Gina Neugebauer and Rick Mask, The EvoLLLution | John-John Williams and Bria Overs, The Baltimore Banner |
Cathy Cook, Albuquerque Journal | Eric Hoover, The Chronicle of Higher Education |
Ronald Langston, Des Moines Register | April Mabry, Texas Association of School Boards |
Ernesto Centeno Araujo and Paris Barraza, Ventura County Star | Michael Buffer, The Citizens' Voice | Peyton Harris, The Hechinger Report |
Alcino Donadel, University Business | Jack Harvel, Topeka Capital-Journal |
Diane Roberts, Florida Phoenix | Community College Research Center | The Chronicle of Higher Education | |