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.
College has become a significant dividing line in American life. The gap between the promises of higher education and its often frustrating reality has contributed to a conservative movement aimed at transforming academia. Over the past decade, though, nearly every state has made investments to help more individuals obtain a certificate or degree after high school.
Wyoming is one of those states. And, like most others, it has made headway. But, as University of Wyoming president Ed Seidel asserts, universities must now rethink what they’re selling, not just how they’re selling it.
It all started with Columbia University. In early March, less than two months after President Donald Trump took office, his administration canceled $400 million in federal research funding to the Ivy League institution. The funding cut came just days after federal officials announced a probe into the university, claiming it failed to protect Jewish students from harassment. More civil rights investigations and funding freezes followed at other colleges and universities.
The first to face a funding hit, Columbia in March also became the first university to agree to a host of demands from the Trump administration to see its federal funding restored. Here’s a look at the deals signed so far between colleges and the government—and the impact on the institutions involved.
As the federal government shutdown entered its fourth week, some colleges, universities, and researchers are feeling the added strain on a system that’s faced a string of major disruptions since Donald Trump retook the presidency in January.
Georgia Tech officials say they're cutting expenses to “preserve cash." The University of Hawaiʻi system is paying federally funded workers $20 million every two weeks. And a solar energy training program at a New Jersey community college is in jeopardy.
California’s community college-to-four-year university transfer pipeline has not delivered the outcomes students need. While 80 percent of community college students intend to transfer, just 19 percent reach a California State University campus within four years. The gap is stark.
While there have been numerous statewide efforts to define clear pathways to California State University and the University of California, time and again it’s taken local innovation and collaboration between sending and receiving colleges to make a real difference.
Only 40 percent of U.S. workers hold quality jobs that meet their basic financial needs while providing safety, respect, growth opportunities, and meaningful control over their work, according to the American Job Quality Study released this week from Jobs for the Future.
The first nationally representative survey of its kind surveyed more than 18,000 workers between January and February 2025. The study reveals significant disparities in job quality across demographic groups, with particular challenges facing women, workers of color, and those without college degrees.
Hannah Halverson’s decision on where to attend college next fall is shaping up to be an easy one. A senior at Rogers High School in a northwest suburb of Minneapolis, she was already interested in Minnesota State University, Mankato, when she received an email last month that she had been admitted—before she even applied.
Colleges and universities participating in direct admissions automatically offer spots to eligible high school seniors before they apply. Proponents say such programs can increase enrollment, make the admissions process simpler, and help students unsure about college, especially first-generation students or those in rural communities.
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