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.
Emily Enriquez didn’t need Sacramento State to mandate that she live on campus. She was already sold on the idea of living a short walk from classes and campus events.
This fall, however, Enriquez and more than a thousand other first-year Sac State students will live on campus under a new requirement that university officials say will boost graduation rates and build a greater sense of community. It’s also the latest example of university leaders’ efforts to shed Sac State’s longstanding reputation as a commuter school.
Giving students college credit for career-readiness learning they’re already doing could achieve more than providing them with a head start on a degree. For students who may not see college as an option, Maine’s public universities are betting that having credits in hand could change whether they see a degree as within reach.
Beginning this fall, the University of Maine System will award academic credit for microcredentials earned by high school students through Jobs for Maine’s Graduates, a statewide nonprofit that helps students transition into college or meaningful careers.
Matriculation. Bursar. Prerequisite override. Articulation agreement. FERPA waiver. These aren’t just unfamiliar words. They’re gatekeeping mechanisms, even when no one intends them to be. A term like “matriculation” might feel like harmless institutional shorthand to the people who use it every day, but to a student whose parents never attended college, it can be the difference between registering for classes on time and missing a deadline they didn't know existed because they failed to understand the sentence that described it.
This is the uncomfortable reality that community college leaders need to confront: our language is a barrier, says the president of the College of Southern Idaho in this op-ed.
A growing number of colleges are offering three-year bachelor’s degree programs, providing students a faster and less expensive path toward graduation, but worrying critics who say the trend could devalue college education.
Instead of the typical 120 credits earned in four years, some programs now require students to complete around 90 credits. Proponents say that helps students get into—or back into—the workforce more quickly and with less debt. But some question whether graduate schools, employers, and accreditors will fully accept the shortened degrees.
Kentucky's Berea College is set to revolutionize higher education with its "Financial Freedom Pledge," launching Fall 2027. This groundbreaking initiative will provide every enrolled student the chance to earn a four-year degree, with 100% of tuition, housing, food, and fees covered without requiring any loans.
As the first institution nationwide to offer such a comprehensive, no-loan program to all admitted students, Berea expands its century-old tradition of tuition-free education. President Cheryl L. Nixon emphasizes this move as an investment in student potential, fostering freedom to dream and explore.
The United States has spent decades building a higher education system that attracts talent from around the world.
Today, however, two federal actions are changing different points along the path from international student to U.S. worker—raising questions for colleges about enrollment, administration and, ultimately, whether some of the people they educate will be able to leverage their expertise to help the United States advance solutions to global challenges.
.jpg?width=500&upscale=true&name=istockphoto-155597382-612x612%20(1).jpg)
