Gretchen Syverud served as Lumina’s strategy officer for state policy and director of strategic alignment from 2016 to 2024.
Prior to joining the foundation, she served as associate director of policy and research at the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE), an interstate compact of the six New England states. She led NEBHE’s policy team in tracking and analyzing postsecondary education trends, issues, policies, and best practices to inform institutions, systems, legislators and state leaders. She began her higher education career as an institutional research analyst at Simmons College in Boston.
College students have a powerful friend they may not know about when it comes to protecting their rights in a time of disruption for higher education: their state’s attorney general. Often dubbed “The People’s Lawyer,” the AG is the top legal officer in a state, representing the public interest— including the rights of students—in a variety of ways.
A new national report on preparing workers for middle-skill jobs shows how states are measuring the amount of training that each has in its workforce, a big step toward strengthening the links between education, training, and high-quality employment.
States looking to raise the overall numbers of working-age residents with education and training after high school would benefit from focusing on populations who haven’t been well served in the past by colleges, universities, and other postsecondary education providers.
