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.
Over the past 60 days, President Donald Trump and his administration have made sweeping changes to the higher education landscape, resulting in increased anxieties for many students as they worry about federal financial aid, future employment opportunities, or immigration.
Some universities are stepping up to implement new initiatives that address these fears, including support groups and resource websites.
For decades, the National Science Foundation has been a leading funder of artificial intelligence innovation in academe, with a budget of more than $530 million for AI research in fiscal 2024 alone. Its grant programs include those advancing research, infrastructure, workforce development, and education around AI.
Yet it is support that now feels uncertain. And that uncertainty complicates planning and delays decisions. It can thwart ambition. And it can drive away already limited talent in droves.
The squeeze on higher education underscores how much American colleges depend on the federal government—a provider of grants and contracts that have amounted to close to half the total revenue of some research universities, according to an Associated Press analysis.
It adds up to a crisis for universities and a problem for the country as a whole, say school administrators and advocates for academic freedom. America’s scientific and medical research capabilities are tightly entwined with its universities as part of a compact that started after World War II to develop national expertise and knowledge.
By many accounts, the federal student loan system is a mess right now. Eight million federal student loan borrowers are currently waiting for the courts to decide if their repayment plan is legal; at the same time, another nine million are late on their payments and may be plunging toward default. All while the federal office that oversees student loans has been cut in half and may be moving to a different federal agency.
Student loan experts weigh in on some of borrowers' biggest questions.
President Donald Trump’s promise to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education dates back to his first term, with that vow then becoming a central focus of his campaign pledge in 2024.
But while the plan went nowhere during his first time in the White House, it has come to fruition through a slew of executive actions since his inauguration in January. Here are eight visuals to help understand Trump’s multiphased gutting of the Education Department and its widespread impact.
Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has targeted dozens of higher education institutions, worked to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, and taken aim at diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
Meanwhile, community colleges in Houston and elsewhere around the country have generally sat quietly on the sidelines—not a direct target of Trump’s overhaul, but not shielded from his actions, either.
