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The first day of class, especially if it’s the first day of college for first-year students, is one of possibility smothered by anxiety. Every professor knows this. The students are excited but nervous. They rarely talk to each other—more often they are locked into their own heads via earbuds and smartphones. Some are hoping for a syllabus day; others are dreading a syllabus day, already intimidated by the amount of work and policies set out in that mighty tome.

Every professor also knows the importance of this first day, how it sets the tone for the entire semester. But finding a way to engage students in a comforting yet intellectually stimulating manner is a continuing challenge. For almost 15 years, I’ve had a lot of success with an activity designed to fail: an activity involving flying candy. I throw M&Ms at the students, or, more accurately, at small paper cups resting on their desks. They brighten, pay attention and laugh as I hurl candy-coated chocolates across the room, missing the tiny cups every time.

The activity is fun and breaks the tension, but it also does so much more. At the end of the initial barrage, I tell them their goal is to get as many M&Ms into their individual cups as possible. Everyone agrees my approach of tossing candy at stationary cups from across the room is not a winning strategy. I ask for suggestions on a better approach.

Someone always suggests holding the cup to try to catch the candies. We give it a try. It rarely works. The candies bounce out, even if we manage to connect candy with cup. Someone else always suggests I walk around the room distributing the candy. I respond it’s a good idea, but too much exercise for me. Then someone, sometimes brimming with confidence, hand raised in the air Hermione Granger–style, other times with shyness, hand partially up, sheepishly asks, “Can I come and take the M&Ms myself?”

I smile and ask the students if that would be an effective way to get M&Ms. Everyone agrees. I encourage the student to come on up and take what is theirs. After the student returns to their seat with a cup of calories, I inquire about the purpose of this exercise, other than to have a fun and memorable first day of class.

Sometimes silence. Sometimes a few hands in the air. Most often, the students are not prepared to consider the deeper meaning of candy zipping past their heads, missing the intended target in utter failure. They are not expecting figurative language in an introductory biology class, but they unknowingly are primed for an analogy on learning.

I explain the M&Ms represent discrete bits of information called facts. The cup is their brain. I could throw a fact at them: “Carbon dioxide has low potential energy.” It misses their brain. I sling another bit: “Oxygen has high electronegativity.” It sails past their cup, passive and empty. Time and time again, the metaphorical fact misses their metaphorical brain. They need to realize learning is an active process. All the world’s information is at their disposal; they just need to get up and take it. They can’t expect to learn if they consider themselves empty vessels waiting to be filled by the sage on the stage. It takes work on their part.

Conversely, I can’t expect them to learn if I treat them as empty vessels, each the same size and shape—yes, subtle inclusivity reference—waiting passively to be filled. It takes work on my part to help them fill their metaphorical cup. It’s an important lesson for them, yet it’s also a reminder for me to engage, not lecture.

I continue the analogy. If M&Ms represent facts, then of what good is a collection of them? What can they do with this cup of M&Ms? Someone says, “Eat them.” I agree but then ask how they could be eaten. By themselves, in cookie batter, spread as a topping on ice cream, crushed and sprinkled on brownies. Or don’t eat them at all but use them as raw material for an art project. Each of us could come up with different ways to use the M&Ms to create something new, something wonderful, from those otherwise individual candies.

I then suggest—no, plead—for them not to think of their education as the simple collection of information, but to consider how this information can be used and how it relates to other topics. This conversation then leads into an introduction of Bloom’s taxonomy, which is new to most students. I ask them to consider our fact “carbon dioxide has low potential energy.” The fact isn’t particularly useful unto itself. It’s meaningless without an understanding of potential energy and bonding between carbon and oxygen. And then we can consider the importance of this fact to biological processes and to climate change. I end by commenting if any of them can create a new way to effectively capture and store carbon dioxide, they could make a fortune. They are primed to learn that each fact is connected to a universe of other information, that making those connections is the essence of learning.

As the class nears its end, we as students and professor come to an explicit agreement not to treat ourselves and each other as empty vessels waiting to be filled. We will engage with each other and be active in our learning. And when the class in fact ends, I invite each student to come up and help themselves to M&Ms—or to Skittles for those who either prefer or need a nonchocolate, nondairy alternative. Yes, another nod to inclusivity.

My hope is that students leave the class a little less nervous and possibly even excited about what is before them. I hope they leave inspired to be active in their education and strive to do more than collect facts, more than memorize.

And my hope is usually rewarded. I love it when seniors, often with one hand reaching for their diploma, tell me they distinctly remember that first day of class, of college, of the lesson of the flying candies. Or when I hear alumni who are visiting for homecoming reminiscing with their spouse or significant other about that first lesson and how they realized, as they dodged projectile candies, that learning is more than collecting and they are more than a vessel to be filled.

On those occasions, I wish I had a stash of candy to disperse to reward them for a job well done. But then, their long-term reward is much greater than anything I could bestow, even with candy-coated chocolate perfection. Starting a semester or a college career with a lesson hidden in thrown candy missing its mark is a meaningful way, in any course, to connect to nervous students. And all it takes is a bag of M&Ms, a few inexpensive paper cups, a little performance bravery, a discipline-appropriate fact and the willingness to clean a floor littered with dirty, but certainly not wasted, candy.

The University of California, Berkeley, Law School is now offering an artificial intelligence–focused law degree in response to a growing demand for AI law experts. 

The master of laws degree track—one of the nation’s first, if not the first—will teach students about AI ethics, current and future efforts to regulate AI, and the fundamentals of AI technology. It will include an AI Law and Regulation certificate focused on data privacy, intellectual property rights and licensing. 

“At Berkeley Law, we are committed to leading the way in legal education by anticipating the future needs of our profession,” law dean Erwin Chemerinsky said in a statement. “Our AI-focused degree program is a testament to our dedication to preparing our students for the challenges and opportunities presented by emerging technologies.” 

The new degree is intended for working professionals, and the program is accepting applications now ahead of its launch in summer 2025. It was created by a team of industry professionals hailing from entities like Meta, technology companies including Harness and Anthropic, and public institutions such as the Allen Institute for AI. 

Berkeley Law assistant dean Adam Sterling called the degree offering a way for attorneys to “future-proof” their practice. 

Law schools across the country were among the first to embrace generative artificial intelligence when it first came into public consciousness in November 2022 after the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. In July 2023, Arizona State University announced that future law school applicants would be allowed to use ChatGPT, specifically for their personal statements, which are akin to the essays required in undergraduate applications. In a recent American Bar Association survey, more than half of law schools polled said they offer courses dedicated to teaching students about AI.

Student mental health concerns are on the rise, and college leaders are addressing them in every area of campus life. Some are turning their attention to campus facilities and the role space, light, sound and décor can play in student learning and healthy living. Many college campuses have established wellness rooms, sensory spaces or relaxation zones to promote healthy habits and academic success for learners. 

The focus on environmental wellness is also an inclusive effort, supporting students who struggle with sensory issues, including those with learning or developmental disabilities, and promotes universal design thinking.

In this episode of Voices of Student Success, host Ashley Mowreader speaks with architecture and design experts Renae Mantooth and Brad Robichaux, from design firm HKS, to discuss the science behind environmental wellness and how colleges are adapting to serve their students.

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Later, hear from Lauren Kehoe, then–accessibility and accommodations librarian at New York University, about how NYU turned a spare room in the library into a safe study space for neurodiverse students.

An edited version of the podcast appears below.

Listen to past episodes of Voices of Student Success here.

Inside Higher Ed: Where did the concept of sensory rooms come from? What are wellness facilities?

Robichaux: I think first and foremost it’s the increased student demand and expectations to have comprehensive wellness services located on campus. I think over the years, we’ve definitely seen rising awareness of mental health issues amongst college students, which has led universities to invest in spaces that support their mental well-being: counseling centers, quiet rooms, spaces for meditation. These aren’t necessarily new things in the construct of interior design, but I think as they relate to campuses, that is definitely a new integration in academic buildings.

Mantooth: I also think there’s greater awareness—not just for mental health and the destigmatization of that, but also in terms of different sensory needs. So much of this [work] has been around, not just designing for spaces like that, but even understanding what that means. I think a lot of this is really just being driven by our collective understanding that people do have different needs when it comes to the environment and for self-regulation and emotional regulation and all of that.

Inside Higher Ed: What is the science behind wellness facilities? How can these spaces better student mental health or their academic focus?

Mantooth: It really all begins with understanding this general argument that the built environment does matter. It does make a difference on our experiences. It does make a difference in terms of how we behave in space or how we feel in space.

From that environmental psychology lens, there are strategies and plenty of studies out there that that talk about how access to green space, for example, or access to nature, the amount of daylight, actually does influence cognitive functioning or our general mental health.

Whether it be about exposure to those spaces, whether it be about how often you’re in those environments and even how satisfied you are with your environment, it can all make a difference in in terms of mental health.

We recently published a study out of a student housing project that was asking students about their environmental satisfaction. But we also had a self-report study on a validated measure of depression and life satisfaction, and what we found was that there is this relationship between environmental satisfaction along with mental health. The idea here is that the more that we can influence and let students be more satisfied with their environments, then therefore their mental health outcomes can also be influenced.

Inside Higher Ed: On the practical level, what does it mean when we’re talking about the physical space of a wellness center or a meditation room or a sensory room? What are some of those common features that we’re seeing?

Robichaux: I love that architects and interior designers, in general, are implementing more empathy into their design. And I think a lot of this is stemming from a lot of the virtual, remote learning and co-working that we experienced during the pandemic.

Empathy in architecture shouldn’t be surprising, that we’re implementing that, but I love that we have a heightened awareness to that 1724244849.

For wellness centers, it’s just a comprehensive facility that offers a range of services, including fitness classes or counseling or even nutrition advice or even health screenings. UC Berkeley included—their new Tang Center is a great example of that, where it provides a really comprehensive facility for those things.

Now, meditation, mindfulness rooms, nap pods, relaxation rooms—those could coexist in a variety of different ways. I think on college campuses, it’s all about how to control those spaces and get the most out of their investment to include some of these. But really they’re just dedicated spaces for exactly that: meditation, relaxation and mindfulness practices. Areas equipped with nap pods and comfortable seating where students can take short rests [are] also important.

As we’re designing a lot of these spaces, furniture, obviously, is a major component of this, because a chair is a chair is a chair, but it’s also not. Because then you think in the context of posture types and how people interact with furniture, whether it’s soft seating or hard plastic or wood[en] chair. Are you perched? Are you standing? Are you lounged? And what kind of environment that [can] coexist with is really important.

I don’t want to just focus too much on just like the meditation and mindfulness [of] physical, enclosed space, but I think there’s definitely a heightened awareness to how furniture interacts with space and how people interact generally with furniture.

Mantooth: I would tack on to that, too—we did some research with N.C. State [North Carolina State University] a couple of years ago in the height of the pandemic. I was interviewing students about their informal or their gathering spaces, all these environments that are outside of classrooms but obviously very core to their work and their student life.

Because it was the pandemic, the university had set up a lot of these, like what I would call large wedding tents outside where students could gather in a safe way, given the conditions. But on one of the campuses where they set this up, they actually put a piano out there, and one of the students talked about how this became his favorite spot on campus. In between classes, he’d stop and he’d play the piano, and people would gather, and he was so hopeful that the university wouldn’t take it away once the pandemic was over.

I think that there’s, not just what Brad was talking about of these really intentional design strategies around furniture and how that interaction between people and what that can afford, but it can also be really quick, “do now” type of things like a wedding tent, that just creates a new environment, but also gives students that outlet or that way to connect with each other.

It’s not always this internal-facing thing, and, “What do I need for my own privacy?” But also, “How am I connecting with others in this obviously very active and enjoyable campus?”

Robichaux: And I love that you mentioned the music aspect of that, because when we talk about mental health and well-being, we tend to drift towards thinking about those quiet rooms and those spaces that are dedicated to meditation and such. But I think it’s just as important to understand that students spend the majority of their time listening to music, socializing with friends, watching TV or movies, and so integrating spaces that could potentially just be dedicated to listening to music, right?

Provide a record player in a space where students can socialize. They could bring their own records, they can plug in their own phone and broadcast some music, but it’s a space where students can socialize. But again, it’s not just where you can take a nap or just hide away. But just providing those, what I like to call social interventions. Some of these student housing projects, the rooms are getting smaller and smaller, so it’s important to increase that mental health aspect of just general socialization.

Inside Higher Ed: I love that idea that de-stressing or taking care of yourself doesn’t have to be in isolation. It doesn’t have to be the nap pod or the meditation room. It can be singing karaoke with your friends and just having a space to enjoy the outdoors in a wedding tent or something like that.

There’s a spectrum of investment and wellness facilities in rooms. It could be as easy as a pop-up tent. It could be completely redesigning the library. Where are you all seeing the trend when it comes to the level of investment institutions are taking. Is it a complete redesign? Is it reusing old spaces? Is it everything in between?

Mantooth: What I see is, every single project, no matter the typology on the campus, there is some aspect of mental health and mental wellness. I think that administrators are very aware of the mental health challenges that students are facing, and so every project—maybe it’s a classroom building, maybe it’s a student center, maybe it’s a student housing project—all of them will have some conversation around, [where] are there are these smaller, informal spaces where students can either have that sense of respite or relief or obviously social connection?

But I think it’s not just at the building level. It’s also thinking about the overall landscape. We’re having a conversation right now in a student housing project about a hammock garden, for example, and being able to relax in the outdoors, but still being surrounded by your peers. Again, not having to resort to this idea of isolation, but being able to rest and have those opportunities for respite, but still in that you know that greater community that they’re within.

Robichaux: I think universities also are looking towards a holistic education approach. Adopting this holistic approach to education includes more than just physical fitness. So you’re almost creating this ecosystem, if you will, that ties back into existing facilities, such as fitness recreation facilities that exist across every campus, but coordinating that with health services and dining services, I think would really start to create this comprehensive wellness ecosystem, if you will, that are all working in tandem with each other.

Inside Higher Ed: There’s the saying “if you build it, they will come,” but that’s not always the case. What are the design considerations when it comes to making sure that these spaces are accessible and actually utilized by students?

Mantooth: This is, like, my favorite topic. It is about accessibility, and in my opinion, it’s also about convenience.

When you’re a college student, you’re learning how to be independent, you’re learning how to live on your own, but obviously still within a structure. I think that level of convenience is so important. I know a lot of universities are trying to bring more formal counselors and mental health services to where students already are. We’ve given the example of one of our housing projects in California, how they actually have a basic needs suite within the student housing project so they can literally have a counseling visit right in their student housing facility. But also, I know of other universities that are bringing counselors into the colleges, so it’s co-located where students already are in terms of their actual coursework.

But there’s a huge virtual component here, too. Lots of students do engage with their counselors and their formal mental health services through telehealth. What does that mean whenever you’re sharing a dorm room? Where do you go for a private mental health call, or telehealth call like that?

One strategy that we’re using a lot in our housing projects is thinking about these shared private spaces that are outside of dorm rooms that students can go into to be able to, maybe it’s a phone call with their mom, or maybe it is this telehealth visit. But thinking about shared private spaces as well. In terms of just overall access, it’s about making things convenient, bringing those things where students already are and where they already have to be.

And then there’s also the belonging and the otherness element of it as well. Do students feel like they see themselves in their built environment? Do they feel like they’re represented within their spaces? And whenever they do feel that, then we can see that greater access is actually there, too, where they’re going to be much more likely to access these services and feel comfortable and feel like they’re really part of that community, rather than an outsider that’s just visiting. So much in what we do and our design is tied to also making sure that students do feel represented and see themselves within their spaces.

Robichaux: We already talked about … how the pandemic affected a variety of different learning methodologies and how people receive curriculum. But we already know that students are fundamentally different than they were four years ago.

When attending classes from home, they were able to manipulate their physical environments to fit their immediate needs. And now that students are back on campus, they’re expecting more from their learning environments. I think this diverse space enables choice, and I think the success of these space typologies are heavily tied to, like we said, flexible furniture and mobile technologies.

But I really think students are really looking for a more experiential aspect of the college campus. It’s becoming less of a destination, like, “I go to school, I go to work,” and it’s more of an experience, like, “I want to experience this course. I want to experience a college campus,” rather than just experiencing a destination, like a physical building.

So I think universities are implementing a lot of these different program modalities to create that experiential aspect of it. I mention this a lot, but there’s a Peanuts cartoon where they’re sitting in a classroom and another student turns to Charlie Brown, and she says, “Try not to enjoy it. It’s supposed to be educational.” And I think that was the mindset of a lot of campuses, was you were just there to receive curriculum. But that is completely changing, and I think implementing those more experiential aspects on campus is creating a more, like I said, a holistic educational experience, rather than just sitting and taking notes and doing exams and receiving it.

Inside Higher Ed: Where do you see the conversation going as we’re talking about campus design and infrastructure to support student health and wellness?

Mantooth: I think it’s about access to those resources. We’ve talked a lot about the formal mental health services, but especially if we’re talking about some of the state colleges or even community colleges that are trying to also offer affordable housing to their students and [serving] them there, I think it’s really about understanding, what are those basic needs, and how do those basic needs differ across student bodies?

I don’t know if that fully answers your question, but I do think it has a lot to do with being able to be really in touch with what that current student needs now. What is the university doing to provide those wraparound services or those holistic resources to them?

Robichaux: I think there’s a real cultural sensitivity to ensure that these wellness programs and spaces are culturally sensitive and inclusive while respecting the broad range of backgrounds and practices of the student population.

I think understanding the demographic of the population will start to reveal how students interact with health-care services, and maybe some demographic may have access or be more inclined to use mental health services versus another. I think [college leaders] are really starting to dig into offering programming and resources that address specific wellness needs of different cultural groups.

I think it’s a fascinating topic. I’m loving that people are having more conversations around mental health on college campuses. We all know stress and anxiety is just one component of a college student’s life, so I think just having convenience and accessibility to these services is making a huge impact on college campuses.

Inside Higher Ed: Where did this conversation start on campus? Who asked for the space? Why is it on campus?

Kehoe: It started at a universitywide meeting with a variety of stakeholders who are invested in improving the accessibility and experience for our disabled student community across the campuses.

And it was, I think, my second month of work about six years ago, and I had just joined this committee. It was called the disability, inclusion, accessibility provisional working group.

I had just joined this meeting, and I had my name tag in front with “library” [on it], and they were like, “We need to build a sensory space for students. We’ve been asked for this space for a long time.”

It was right around finals time, which has an acute heightened sense of needing comforting spaces and silent spaces and areas where students can go in and focus.

The meeting took place in the library, I was from the library, and they were like, “Can the library build a space like this?” And I was like, “Well, I just started at the university, but this sounds like a great idea. We would be responding to a student need and request, and that’s what we love to do. So let me work on this and come back to you.” And then a couple of years later, the funding became available, and we were able to make it happen with the support of members of that committee.

At NYU, like many academic universities or colleges, the library is the heart of the campus. And then in New York City, in a metropolitan region where the campus is in the middle of the city, space is somewhat at a premium, and unique spaces like this even more at a premium.

The library at NYU has prioritized being able to provide these kinds of spaces that meet student needs, that respond to student requests. And you know, the experience of having it in the library, there’s the perception that libraries are quiet, more sensory-friendly areas, perhaps with sound considerations, smell considerations, lighting. I know there’s a big movement in libraries to have really well-lit spaces with natural lighting.

I think there’s a lot of what libraries do to consider this already. Some do it great. Some aren’t always able to do it great. But then more specifically, at NYU, coming in from a very overwhelming city with traffic and subways and people and smells and sounds, and then in an urban campus where there’s 60,000 students and there’s just a lot of people, it can be an overwhelming experience. Then the building itself, coming in, it’s 14 floors, there’s different things to look at. There’s been different stages of renovation, and so we really wanted to just prioritize the experience for neurodivergent students who would be coming through the building and respond to that. And so we’ve [moved] beyond the sensory space now to [bring] that into our other designs.

Inside Higher Ed: Within the sensory space, what are some of the features?

Kehoe: We had a lot of design considerations. I had attended quite a few conferences and learned from other more public universities, actually, that had been doing this, and took a look at some of the way spaces were designed. But we really considered first and foremost was paint color and carpeting, and we found a neutral blue color.

For the sound-dampening purposes and warmth of the space, we put in carpeting. And then we chose other design features and furniture features that would further enhance somewhat customizable sensory experience.

Of course, there’s only so many factors one can control in a space that you’re retrofitting to a need, but we worked with the electricians to make the overhead lighting dimmable, so we completely changed the system in the room to make it low-level lighting. We got additional furniture that had really high sides and insulated. We talked a lot about how we were going to situate the chairs, whether they face the door, or away from the door, or to the wall, with the wall at your back.

We got a lot of student feedback as we were thinking through these things to make design decisions, and then we’d gotten a lot of feedback, too, about the experience of New York City, NYU, and then really wanting it to feel cozy and comforting.

We worked with fabrics and warm wood tones and so those, like, design decisions and bringing it all together with the colors and the lighting and the fabric, because textures are really important. And then we added sound-dampening panels, because we wanted to make sure it is a group space. There’s more than one person [in the room] at a time. Really trying to add features that allow for the low-sensory experience.

The last thing I want to say, too, about that is that in the shared space, there’s a lot of chairs with high backs, ottomans, wood features. Electricity was really important so people can bring their own devices. But we also have what’s called a Framery pod—it’s the name of the company that makes it.

It’s essentially a modular office space. They have units that are individual pods that look like telephone booths, but we had a group one. It has a door on it. It’s a glass door, and it also has its own lighting and ventilation system inside, which acts as a white-noise machine. We have that inside the sensory space, too. So if you need even more sensory deprivation, or if you need a stimming space … we have that space as well that’s set off in the group space.

Inside Higher Ed: That’s something I’m learning, is that it’s not necessarily about the things you add to a space. I was picturing lava lamps and fidget toys and things like that, but it’s even more so just how the room itself is constructed, like you mentioned, nice blue color and carpet and things that feel welcoming.

Kehoe: I bought lots of fidgets, and I have lots of things that I can put in the space. Looking at what other places have done, we had an academic audience in mind. Of course, we wanted a space that would allow students to decompress and have a sensory-free area. But we were in the library, and we were trying to serve the study nature of students. I’m sure they’ll use it for other reasons, just to go in and have some quiet time. But we moved away from those lamps and those kinds of features, to have the lighting and the other kind of sensory-related items that might be in traditional sensory rooms. But like I said, we did get items to add to the space.

Back to the sound and shared space: We definitely, in our user research, had a lot of [comments sharing], “My stimming might disrupt somebody else,” so how do we manage that? So some of the fidgets I’ve gotten are silent. Like, I have these sand-wave things that are really quiet. And then I have other kinds of pillows and things that allow for customization and stimming in different ways, but in quieter ways. We just tried to adapt some of—I don’t know, traditional, if there’s a traditional kind of approach the sensory rooms—but I did look at lava lamps. We just didn’t end up getting those.

Inside Higher Ed: There’s good in both, but I guess it depends on your purpose.

We’re seeing libraries move from just stacks of books and more of these interactive spaces for students to meet and gather or to take a break and have a sensory experience. What was this room before? Was this a remodel at NYU, and how is that sort of realigning with the new vision of libraries?

Kehoe: In the past it was an office space that had about six cubicle desks inside of it, but it was kind of at the back of the building, beyond user-facing space.

In conversations with the original people that brought the idea to the libraries and then the library’s facility team, [it was clear that] space is always at a premium, again, in an urban setting, even maybe more so than other kind of campuses that might have more space for growth. But this was the space that was available, and we really also wanted it to be in an accessible place like the first floor, and it was already closed off. There was a door, and there was a confined area where we could provide this special type of space in the library. So it didn’t displace any books or anything like that.

I will say, going forward, though, as we continue to do renovations and remodels—we had the sensory space, and then there was a delayed opening, because we then got the new president of NYU, Linda Mills, [who] actually [wanted] to redo the whole first floor. And so we took some of the design ideas, like the carpeting, the color, the furniture, the lighting, and we added those elements into the first floor so that it more seamlessly integrated in with the space, if that makes sense.

As we do more and more renovations, this idea of kind of the sensory experience of being in the library is going to really influence all the other areas. I am in conversation with colleagues about what that means for the book stacks and how stacks and books can provide sensory stimulation [and] sound absorption. There are these elements of the traditional library services influencing these newer service points; how they can be in conversation and utility together?

Inside Higher Ed: I love the idea that the sensory room is expanding, it’s trickling out in these smaller ways to the library, because we know that all students can benefit.

How have students engaged with the space?

Kehoe: We have this space, it’s a very small number of seats, it can hold 10 students and there’s about 200 students who are registered with the Moses Center, our student accessibility office on campus, who have been given access to the space as an accommodation. So it is swipe activated; you have to have to have an academic accommodation to get access to the defined sensory space.

With that being said, we understand more students need access to this kind of space, and that was a lot of feedback we got as we were doing user research with students, and when there was a big press release around this space, we got a lot of feedback saying everybody can benefit from this, and maybe there’s some exclusionary practices if you’re just allowing for a certain group of individuals to use it.

So that’s why we have now, anytime we are redoing a space, we’re bringing in these design considerations. That’s one way user feedback and student feedback has come to add to the validity of what we’re doing, and to show that there’s demand for more of these spaces.

We also have students who participated in really structured user feedback and gave us design input. I’ve gotten feedback about how to make the space more user-friendly. We added lighting, but it was very confusing to the students how the lights actually worked. You tap on the stand, and it’s like, low, medium and high settings, but they had no idea.

Back to the way we design the furniture, the seats are facing in different directions, so a student might not know that somebody’s sitting in a space, and they’ll go over and see. So we got some feedback about how to how to add some signage or details to help the space be more user-friendly.

Students use the space in a variety of ways. We’ve asked about time of day that they go in and features they really like or features that are missing. Students will sit in the chairs; some students have their favorite chair. A lot of students really gravitate towards that pod I mentioned before, just because they can be even more insulated and more supported. They’ve brought their own blankets, although I’ve provided weighted blankets. They really have adopted the space somewhat for their own continued use.

I’ve put pillows in the space and yoga mats, so they’ll sit on the floor and they’ll sit on the furniture, or they’ll move the furniture. That’s the idea we had behind it, was that students would make themselves comfortable in the space we would provide. We have an open floor area for them to sit, but sometimes they’re also just tucked away in the corner. And I’ve seen students both take naps in there, I’ve seen them be really productive and have multiple computers going. I think they’re using it in a variety of different ways.

I’ve been given feedback, too, that the space has really benefited them, and they’ve really needed it, and it provides a space for them to go and be able to decompress and get feel comfortable in the space.

Inside Higher Ed: If you had to give advice to an institution based on how the space is being used or what you learned, what would you share?

Kehoe: It’s a fun project to work on. I don’t know if everybody is like a space nerd like I am, but I just want to say it was really fun to be able to design something to learn about a need to really get out there and talk to people about it and to respond to that.

That’s probably the biggest thing I’d want people to know, is really get your community involved. Talk to the students that’ll be using this, and bring them in in the design process, if you can, and the decision-making. Don’t be afraid to kind of promote it and get out there and share that this information, that the space is available and really try and respond to student needs.

It doesn’t need to be its own autonomous, dedicated space. That’s the ideal: that you would have a sectioned-off space that really is insulated, because that sound piece is really important. Of course, you don’t want to disrupt the users of the space, but also you don’t want the users of the space to disrupt others. But it can be done, and it doesn’t also have to be done for a big space. It could just be a little space.

I talked about the design features, and we were really thoughtful about the paint color and the fabric choices and all that stuff. If there’s just acknowledgment in any organization that this kind of space is needed, and it could be just an individual office, or it could be a quiet nook in the building, and where you just add some of these features and support that, that it’s dedicated to that kind of use. I think that goes a long way. So that’s something I’ve learned.

We were lucky at NYU to have the buy-in of the community, and then from partnerships and conversations, the library was given information about a grant to apply for. It’s the New York State supporting students with disabilities grant that has been used to fund this project. There was funding there. But a lot of conversations I’m in is like, “Well, there isn’t the funding available,” or “it’s hard to justify this is when there’s other projects.” I like to say that it can be done without a big, grand budget.

Inside Higher Ed: If you had to make the case now saying, is it worth the investment, is this a top priority for institutions, where do you stand in that argument?

Kehoe: Yeah, 100 percent, it’s worth the investment. It’s worth the time it takes to understand what your community needs and to be an advocate. I even think back to, like, there’s 200 students who are using it, and I’ve heard from at least two dozen of those students how impactful it is. So even if it’s not all 60,000 NYU students who are sending me an email saying it’s so important, I know that it’s made an impact for those students who most need it, and that has been worth it entirely.

Yeshiva University is welcoming more undergraduates to campus this fall than it has in the past 15 years, university officials say.

The number of transfer students to the modern Orthodox Jewish institution in New York City increased by a whopping 75 percent last spring semester, according to campus officials. The university also received the highest number of undergraduate applications in its history in the last academic year, and the wait list is twice as long this year as last. University data shows 2,185 full-time undergraduates attended last spring, compared to 2,033 in spring 2023.

Yeshiva leaders say the most recent growth is at least partially related to the pro-Palestinian protests that have roiled campuses across the country amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. According to media reports, some Jewish students who might otherwise have considered a secular college—or who attended one last year—now perceive those campuses as hostile environments, where they’re bound to encounter antisemitism.

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Rabbi Ari Berman, Yeshiva’s president, said students aren’t concerned about encountering those challenges on his campus, which has helped to set the university apart.

“They want to be in a university that nourishes their identity, that is value-based [and] that offers academic excellence, where they don’t need to be worried about what’s happening in the campus climate, and they actually felt they could focus on their studies and their growth,” said Berman. He emphasized that the university’s enrollment started increasing before the war; notably, the graduate student population has doubled over the last six years, from roughly 2,000 to 4,000 students, which Berman attributes in part to the introduction of new master’s programs, including in artificial intelligence. But he believes recent tensions on other campuses have “accentuated our distinction and accelerated our growth.”

Berman said some transfer students come from Ivy League and other highly selective institutions, including the University of Pennsylvania, Barnard College and Columbia University.

One recent transfer is Ethan Oliner, who previously attended Cornell University. He told ABC7 that he transferred to Yeshiva in the spring because he no longer felt at ease on Cornell’s campus in upstate New York. Last October, staff from Cornell’s Hillel, a Jewish support organization, temporarily urged Jewish students to avoid its kosher dining hall because of violent online threats to the building and Jews on campus.

“After Oct. 7, every time I walked into class, it felt like someone was giving you a dirty look,” said Oliner, who was a member of the executive board of Cornellians for Israel and the head of Kedma, a student group that runs Orthodox prayer services.

Leonard Saxe, who directs the Steinhardt Social Research Institute and Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University, said he isn’t surprised by Yeshiva University’s enrollment uptick in the wake of recent protests.

“Parents, grandparents, families of college students are very concerned about the safety and well-being of their students,” he said. “Parents are involved and concerned in a way that is a new development.”

The Broader Landscape

Yeshiva isn’t the only institution that has drawn Jewish students wary of their other options.

Brandeis University, a secular institution founded by the Boston-area Jewish community in 1948, extended its transfer deadline last spring “due to the current climate on many campuses around the world,” Brandeis president Ron Liebowitz wrote in a letter to the campus community. Last October, Franciscan University of Steubenville offered expedited transfer to Jewish students, as did Walsh University, another Catholic institution in Ohio.

Touro University, founded in New York City to serve the Jewish community, enrolled about 5,000 undergraduates last year and expects a roughly 10 percent increase in enrollment this fall, said President Alan Kadish. The university’s undergraduate population is roughly 80 percent Jewish, while its graduate schools, like Yeshiva’s, are religiously diverse.

Kadish said it’s hard to say for sure why new students are coming in larger numbers. University officials’ conversations with Jewish day school guidance counselors and principals suggest that “most students who’ve been accepted to elite colleges are still going—they understand the challenges, and they’re still going,” he said.

But multiple transfer students to Touro have told university staff they left their old institution because they no longer felt comfortable there. Transfer students account for about half of the university’s expected growth this year; typically, they make up closer to 40 percent, according to Kadish.

“We want to make Touro a place that can accommodate everybody but particularly make Jewish students feel comfortable,” he said.

Saxe said institutions founded by Jewish communities, including Brandeis, have a lot to offer Jewish students, but he’s disturbed by the idea that some students feel their options are limited.

“I think Brandeis would be a great place for students to come. Yeshiva has some very fine, fine programs,” he said. “But I also believe that for Jews in America, it would be a step backward were there only to be a certain number of schools that were safe and welcoming places for Jewish students”—or even if they were merely perceived that way, especially in light of the history of quotas that once limited Jewish students’ access to some universities.

Congressional hearings on campus antisemitism put a spotlight on the Ivies; the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard and, most recently, Columbia University resigned in the wake of intense questioning by lawmakers. But Saxe says they’re not “the most important front” in battling campus antisemitism; he’s more concerned about Jewish students shying away from large, more accessible public universities. For example, the University of Florida reports enrolling at least 6,000 Jewish students—a bigger Jewish population than any of the Ivies, he said. Such options are also often the most affordable at a time when costs loom large in students’ college decisions.

Yeshiva University may be the right fit for some undergraduates, particularly those from Orthodox backgrounds, Saxe said, but “we need to fix this problem across the board.”

The Costs of Growth

Yeshiva leaders are pleased by the new growth, but it also comes with new costs.

The university added new housing last spring to accommodate the influx of transfers from other colleges, as well as students who abruptly left Jewish educational institutions in Israel during the war. (High school graduates in some Orthodox communities often take a gap year to study Jewish texts at yeshivas or seminaries, often in Israel.)

Yeshiva has also been working to hire more faculty members, including some Jewish and pro-Israel professors who have left other campuses, Berman said.

For example, Yeshiva’s new dean, Rebecca Cypess, left Rutgers University, where she was a music professor and the associate dean of academic affairs for the university’s Mason Gross School of the Arts. She wrote in the Jewish magazine Tablet that she thought Rutgers had drifted away from fostering “free inquiry and respect for diverse opinions within constructive bounds.”

Mauricio Karchmer, a former Massachusetts Institute of Technology computer science professor, also joined Yeshiva’s faculty in February after resigning a few months earlier. He reportedly wrote in his resignation letter that he couldn’t teach students who condemned his “Jewish identity” or his “support for Israel’s right to exist in peace with its neighbors.”

Berman said the university also needs to provide more scholarship dollars, and some donors have stepped in to contribute. Billionaire Robert Kraft, who pulled support from Columbia in the spring, donated $1 million to Yeshiva earlier this summer to support incoming transfer students.

Still, “the needs are so great,” Berman said.

Kadish, of Touro, believes his university might come up against similar challenges. He said expected enrollment this fall is “a number we can handle,” but if the upward trend continues, the university will need to take some capacity-building measures next year.

“We’re pleased with the increased numbers of students,” Kadish said, but “before much more, we would indeed have to gear up, physically, in terms of additional resources.” The university has “contingency plans” in the event that happens.

“The atmosphere on other college campuses is complex, and it’s hard to tell how it’s going to sort out,” he said. “I think if there’s another year of discomfort similar to last year, next year we may see even more of a trend.”

Berman said Yeshiva’s enrollment growth is a sign that the university is fulfilling its mission.

“It’s moments like these that you see Yeshiva University was established to be a source of excellence and a vehicle in which students can come and bring out their best selves,” Berman said.

As the nation grapples with a presidential candidate with 34 felonies, it is clear it is time to generate a more effective link between our institutions of higher education and our political system. Electing officials who primarily benefit the upper echelons of society is not socially sustainable. Having majority wealthy, heterosexual, white male legislatures is not a recipe for good governance.

A reflective society will learn not only to be environmentally sustainable, but socially sustainable as well. One way we can do that is by broadening legislative bodies to reflect the diversity of our population. To do so, we can encourage a next generation of political leaders within public regional universities by supporting a postsecondary-to-political pipeline that embraces sociology, ethnic studies, gender studies and environmental studies.

Public regional universities allow broad access to education and our student bodies reflect that inclusion. Working- and middle-class students and students of color attend and graduate from public regional universities in large numbers. Increasing the number of legislators who are alumni from these institutions is a strong move toward social sustainability.

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Legislatures enact policy that reflects their members’ interests and demographics in myriad ways. For example, a research study co-authored by one of us (Thiele Strong) found that legislatures composed of a higher percentage of lawmakers who themselves were educated in the public higher education system spend more on public higher education compared to legislatures with a lower percentage of publicly educated lawmakers.

We have seen similar feedback loops with other elected officials. For example, the governor of Minnesota and newest vice presidential candidate, Tim Walz, is a graduate of two regional public universities, Chadron State College and Minnesota State University, Mankato. He is popular in his state, in part, for his commitment to public education, including a 2023 education bill that secured an additional $2.3 billion for public schools.

It is therefore important—both in terms of promoting broad access to higher education, and in terms of an institution’s own self-interest—for our public universities to elevate those who have experienced the education they offer into policy arenas. What might this look like? First, students who are interested in politics need a clear map of which courses they can take to make themselves a viable and robust political candidate. The driving force of a postsecondary-to-politics pipeline needs to be an inclusion of courses that delve into the way our society works. Theoretical frameworks popular in economics and political science have too long led the way in the policy area. We need to encourage a robust curriculum that prioritizes underutilized fields like sociology, ethnic studies, gender studies and environmental studies. These fields offer access to nuanced understandings, to counternarratives and knowledge that can help create bridges in a deeply polarized society. Universities can circulate this roadmap and create a major around it.

Second, we can use the resources we have, such as instructors who have worked in legislative bodies. We can also follow policy decisions and news related to legislation in our classes. Legislative policies branch into all disciplines on campus.

Third, we can network. We can invite local, state and federal representatives onto campus and into our classrooms. We know that beyond academic knowledge (the “what we know”), social capital (the “who we know”) also matters.

We can, of course, encourage students to take political actions such as voting.

In California, ethnic studies courses are (or soon will be) required in both secondary schools and within the California State University system for graduation. If others can follow this model of curriculum decolonization and develop postsecondary-to-political pipelines for students to become politically engaged at the local, state and federal levels, we can increase the legitimacy of our political system.

It is no longer enough for our public regional universities to educate students. We must think beyond the degree and into our political chambers and create a clear pathway for students from our vast public regional university systems into our government and policy arenas so that they can shape a sustainable political future.

As we learn to exist in an era of increasing polarization, one marked by teachers carrying guns, book bans, educational gag orders, anti-DEI legislation and climate destabilization, we need a flush resource of broadly educated political actors. It is time for us to invest in a postsecondary-to-political pipeline, which includes sociology, ethnic, gender and environmental studies and elevates publicly educated leaders.

Developing an Indian-run English language proficiency test for those who wish to study abroad “won’t be easy” but could help open up opportunities for more students, experts have said after a politician urged the government to adopt the idea.

Parliament member Kartikeya Sharma told the country’s parliament that the English-language testing industry had “grown significantly” since the COVID-19 pandemic, generating a “hefty annual revenue of several billion dollars” for the “foreign entities” running the exams.

The number of Indians studying abroad has skyrocketed since the pandemic, climbing from 444,559 in 2021 to 765,411 in 2023, according to the government.

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To secure a place at an anglophone institution overseas, prospective students must score sufficiently high marks in tests such as the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) and TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)—two of the most widely accepted English-language exams.

However, Sharma raised “significant” issues with these exams, such as the “high cost” for test takers, who typically pay about Rs17,000 ($204).

He added that many also incurred additional expenses for things such as coaching, study materials, re-sits and travel—many students have to make long journeys to reach a test center with availability.

In the 2023 financial year, IDP, one of the co-owners of IELTS, reported administering a “record” 1.93 million tests globally, generating A$545.5m ($307.6m) in revenue.

Sharma called on India’s Ministry of Education to develop its own “world-class test,” based on international standards, and to work with other government departments to persuade other countries to accept it.

“This shall not only afford ease of access for an economically challenged aspirant but also democratize the method of learning English as a means of gaining higher education [in] foreign lands,” Sharma said.

Some of those in the international education industry supported the idea, which Indian agents have previously lobbied for amid concerns that IDP’s acquisition of IELTS could give it a competitive advantage in the student recruitment space, but they warned that the practicalities could prove a challenge.

“Such a test could streamline the process by reducing the need for multiple expensive exams,” said Manisha Zaveri, joint managing director of Indian education agency Career Mosaic.

However, established testing providers “have invested years in research and development” and “have strong relationships and technical integrations” with universities worldwide to ensure credibility, she added.

“To match this, an Indian test would require extensive research and development, robust security measures and strong partnerships with international institutions. Additionally, measures to ensure integrity and reliability at test centers are essential.”

India’s centrally administered national tests have faced widespread scrutiny in recent months after a series of problems with cancellations, suspected cheating and alleged leaks of papers.

Michael Goodine, owner of online test preparation company Test Resources, said an “enormous amount” of money goes to international testing firms, many of which also run tuition centers.

He agreed that “it won’t be easy” to develop a new test. “It will be very slow-going at first to convince more than a handful of schools to accept a new test. It will be even harder to get governments to accept a new test for immigration purposes.”

But, Goodine added, the market for English-language testing has “blown wide open” over the past five years, with new players emerging. Establishing a new test “is possible,” he said. “It isn’t just wishful thinking.”

Columbia University President Minouche Shafik resigned abruptly Wednesday night after months of pressure from Congress and campus constituents over her handling of pro-Palestinian student protests.

Shafik spent a little more than a year in the role, a tenure fraught with tension over how she navigated campus demonstrations related to the war between Israel and Hamas that began last fall. The protests at Columbia—which set off a wave of similar demonstrations at colleges across the nation—culminated in the construction of an encampment in the center of campus and the occupation of an administrative building for nearly two weeks, resulting in the arrest of more than 100 protesters in April.

Shafik faced criticism from some students and faculty for the arrests, and from Congress for how long it took her to act.

She was one of seven university presidents who testified in recent months before the House Education and Workforce Committee over concerns about antisemitism on college campuses. Now she is the third of those seven to step down, joining former Harvard University President Claudine Gay and University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, both of whom resigned after a widely panned hearing performance. Gay and Magill came under fire for their unwillingness to condemn hypothetical calls for a genocide of Jewish students on their respective campuses, offering equivocating answers.

The Resignation

In a resignation letter to the Columbia community posted online, Shafik wrote that she “believe[d] … we have made progress in a number of important areas” but also that “it has been a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community.” She added that “this period has taken a considerable toll on my family.”

“Over the summer, I have been able to reflect and have decided that my moving on at this point would best enable Columbia to traverse the challenges ahead. I am making this announcement now so that new leadership can be in place before the new term begins,” Shafik wrote.

Columbia has already appointed Dr. Katrina Armstrong, an administrator and professor, as interim president in the wake of Shafik’s resignation, according to the university website.

Shafik said that she has been asked by the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary to take on an international development role, an area in which Shafik, who previously worked for the Bank of England and served as president of the London School of Economics, has past experience.

Immediate Reactions

New York representative Elise Stefanik, the Republican inquisitor who emerged as a key voice in the Congressional hearings, previously celebrated the resignations of Gay and Magill. On Wednesday night, she took another online victory lap: “THREE DOWN, so many to go,” Stefanik posted on social media.

Stefanik added, “Shafik’s failed presidency was untenable and it was only a matter of time before her forced resignation” and accused Shafik of “failing to protect Jewish students.”

Fellow Republican representative Virginia Foxx, of North Carolina, also released a statement accusing Shafik of allowing “a disturbing wave of antisemitic harassment, discrimination, and disorder” under her leadership, failing to maintain a safe learning environment for all students, and allowing “flagrant violations of the law and the university rules” to go unpunished.

Some students at Columbia also celebrated Shafik’s exit.

“After months of chanting ‘Minouche Shafik you can’t hide’ she finally got the memo. To be clear, any future president who does not pay heed to the Columbia student body’s overwhelming demand for divestment [from Israel] will end up exactly as President Shafik did,” Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine, a group active in campus protests, posted on social media.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) also released a statement.

“Marked by chaos and cowardice, Minouche Shafik’s tenure was a disaster for freedom of expression. Columbia University now has an opportunity to select a leader who will recommit the institution to protecting free speech and academic freedom,” the free speech advocacy group posted on social media. “Students, faculty, trustees, and alumni should demand no less.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Colleges and universities will welcome the class of 2028 to campus this fall, another cohort of learners whose high school experience was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and remote learning.

Over the past few years, higher education practitioners have noticed differences in how today’s students learn compared to their peers, some disparities directly attributed to the pandemic and others a symptom of isolation and online learning.

Rather than asking students to catch up and mold to higher ed’s traditional structures, experts in the field are asking, are colleges set up to help students succeed?

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What’s different: Student readiness has declined from a number of angles: historically low ACT scores, a lack of study skills, class attendance, classroom participation and meeting deadlines consistently. Teenagers entering higher education are also more likely to say they struggle with their mental health and loneliness.

In addition to the new challenges traditional-aged students face in higher education due to their pandemic-related learning loss, today’s student demographics are changing, says EAB’s Alexa Silverman, senior director of student experience and well-being research.

Close to half are employed and many are simultaneously caring for a dependent and an older adult in their family. Additionally, the number of students with psychological-based disabilities have increased and more first-generation learners are enrolled than ever before.

Higher ed tends to make assumptions about what students know how to do. “We tell students ‘You should know how to study,’ but have we really broken down what those skills are?” Silverman says.

Making use of office hours is one example of an assumed-skill, Silverman says. Many students aren’t familiar with the language of office hours and don’t know how to effectively engage with their professor when they do show up.

“While a lot of these changes to processes and resources have been made to address learning loss for the traditional student, I think this set of challenges or barriers have also faced our post-traditional students, adult learners and first-generation students,” Silverman says.

Reframing the issue: College readiness is the idea that a student should be prepared and equipped to succeed at their institution, but many in higher ed want to shift the conversation to institutional readiness. Student success leaders share their perspective that, if a college enrolls a student, that is the indication the student can be successful there.

In speaking to over 100 administrators and leaders, Silverman found institutional readiness was a strong theme in their conversations about serving students, but how that’s being modeled is just starting to be seen.

Instead of placing responsibility on students, she says, colleges and universities can model institutional readiness through:

• Making implicit assumptions explicit. Also called the “hidden curricula of higher education,” institutional leaders, staff and faculty members can provide education to students about the college experience and what skills they need to be successful. Montclair State University launched a campaign in spring 2024 to provide weekly themes of student success and practical strategies to students to promote their academic and co-curricular achievement.

• Modeling a growth mindset. Historically, higher education has had a “weed out” mentality that assumes a student who struggles is not capable of completing their degree. Rather, Silverman argues institutions should emphasize growth and that struggles are part of learning. Practitioners should share with learners that asking for help is not failure and using campus resources such as tutoring is part of good practice. Colorado College integrated an intervention in its first-year seminar that frames support resources as athletic trainers or coaches to hone academic skills, making students aware of services and how those services can serve their individual needs.

• Supporting faculty development. Many of today’s learners are very different from the faculty who are teaching them now, Silverman says, so campus leaders should increase instructors’ awareness of student demographics, how to break down implicit requirements in the classroom and how to refer learners to other offices, if needed. Administrators can also make investments in peer-coaching models or ready-to-use tools and materials to support this work. Texas A&M University at Kingsville implemented the Caring Campus program from the Institute for Evidence-Based Change to promote belonging among diverse student groups and implement best practices for student success.

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After almost eight months on the job in an interim capacity, Lee Roberts was officially named chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill by a unanimous board vote on Friday.

Roberts, who runs a private investment firm, was elevated to the interim position from his seat on the UNC Board of Governors in December, after serving on the board since 2021. A former GOP official who was the state budget director under Republican governor Pat McCrory from 2014 to 2016, Roberts has previously taught classes at his alma mater, Duke University, but had no prior administrative experience in higher education before his appointment.

Now Roberts is officially at the helm of one of the nation’s premier research institutions, officially stepping into the role vacated by Kevin Guskiewicz when he left for Michigan State University.

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The Announcement

In a brief Board of Governors meeting held online, UNC system president Peter Hans said the job had attracted a number of “accomplished academicians, prize-winning researchers and national figures” drawn to robust state support and UNC’s strong reputation.

The search “attracted nearly 60 qualified candidates” and yielded four finalists, according to a system news release, though Roberts was the only candidate for the job named publicly.

“Every chancellor search is different. In this one, I believe we have found the right leader for this moment in Carolina’s history, because the questions facing higher education are wide-ranging, enormously complex, and likely to become magnified in the years ahead,” Hans said.

Hans, who joked about the new chancellor’s connections to Duke, a UNC rival, also praised Roberts for his handling of pro-Palestinian campus protests in the spring. Hans credited Roberts for engaging students and for declining invitations to “air his views on cable TV or score points in partisan news outlets” and sitting “for a thoughtful interview” with a local radio station instead.

Hans did not mention Roberts’s role in spring protests in which he marched with police officers as they broke up the demonstrations, winning him favor with state Republicans who applauded the move, albeit uncommon for a university leader, and called for him to be appointed to the permanent position. (Several Republican lawmakers also celebrated the hire when it was announced on Friday.)

In a live-streamed press conference on Friday, Roberts said he wanted “to listen and to learn” from the university community.

“To me, this university stands, above all else, for the ideal of public service, for helping the people of this state and all those who are touched by this place to achieve their greatest potential. As chancellor, I promise to be guided by that principle as we work together to carry North Carolina into the future,” Roberts told the audience.

Acrimony and Optimism

Friday’s announcement brought a mix of reactions from UNC faculty and students.

For some it was frustration that a figure from the political world who inserted himself into campus protests was hired in a search they believe was rushed and lacked adequate community input. Parker Executive Search, the firm that led the recruiting process, has also faced prior scrutiny for its role in elevating leaders with no higher education experience or with troubled backgrounds.

The search had been expected to take about a year, a common timeline when hiring a new university leader, and was supposed to involve more listening sessions than were scheduled. Search committee officials canceled fall forums, announcing they had received enough feedback from listening sessions held in the spring and from an online survey of the university community.

Sue Estroff, a professor of social medicine at UNC, told Inside Higher Ed that the search felt rushed and the outcome predetermined. She said no one was surprised when Roberts was announced as the hire, particularly after Republican state lawmakers endorsed him for the job.

Despite her concerns about the process, Estroff struck a measured tone on Roberts’s appointment.

“I think he listens well, I think he means well,” Estroff said, though she said the hiring process had increased skepticism from students and faculty and decreased trust in leadership. But she believes Roberts is “well aware of these concerns” and expects him to respond to them and begin efforts to “create connections with faculty and students.”

She added that plans to end a longstanding student-run honor court and replace it with a staff conduct board to rule on disciplinary infractions had harmed Roberts’s standing recently.

Beth Moracco, chair of the faculty council at UNC Chapel Hill, said the speed and expected outcome of the process would cause some trust issues for Roberts. She also noted concerns about his lack of administrative experience in higher education.

“For a top five public university, you would expect someone with more experience. Now is that a fatal flaw? I’ve been encouraged with most of the decisions and conversations that we’ve had. And when I or other faculty have disagreed, he’s not defensive, he’s eager and willing to listen,” Moracco said. “That’s reassuring, because I think there’s going to be a lot of work to build trust.”

Some critics had more pointed views of Roberts being tapped as chancellor.

Adams Sibley, a doctoral student at UNC Chapel Hill, accused the university of undermining its credibility by hiring Roberts. In a series of social media posts, Sibley argued that “the selection process was a formality” that was rushed to conclude before the fall semester to avoid student and faculty dissent. Sibley also accused Roberts of being “a shill for the Republican legislature.” 

Sibley’s remarks align with broader political concerns affecting UNC Chapel Hill and other public institutions in the state. Recent controversies include political wrangling over the process for appointing board members, a new state law that will force public universities to change accreditors every cycle, and plans to create a new School of Civic Life and Leadership at UNC Chapel Hill with little faculty input.

The UNC Chapel Hill Board of Trustees also sparked controversy in 2021 when it publicly fumbled plans to hire Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, author of The New York Times Magazine’s “1619 Project,” which reframed U.S. history with an emphasis on the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans. The project has been widely panned by Republicans, including former President Donald Trump who cast it as unpatriotic.

But Friday, as news swirled, other UNC community members praised the hire.

“Congratulations to Lee Roberts on being named UNC’s 13th chancellor. It has been a pleasure to work with him as interim. He is deeply committed to ensuring the excellence of a Carolina education for our students and to serving the great state of North Carolina,” Jim White, dean of UNC Chapel Hill’s College of Arts and Science wrote on social media.

Jon Williams, an economics professor, shared similar sentiments.

“Lee Roberts is [a] fantastic choice. He has UNC refocused on research and teaching, leaving the distracting nonsense and politics behind. Our senior leadership has demonstrated a lot of courage and fortitude this past year, excited to see their next steps,” Williams wrote on X.

Hotbeds for indoctrination and discrimination against white students. Places that bloat administrative costs. These are only a few of the criticisms that conservatives have leveled against campus centers for diversity, equity and inclusion, which are now under threat as lawmakers have passed draconian bans on DEI programming in states including Florida, Iowa, Texas and Utah.

But as a public university professor in Utah, I saw something very different.

From 2016 to 2020, I taught history at what is now Utah Tech University. An ambitious, growing institution, Utah Tech serves a population of more than 12,000 students in Utah’s southwestern corner. The student population hails largely from Utah and is overwhelmingly white; the few students of color in my classes often felt isolated and out of place.

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Many of these students found community at Utah Tech’s Center for Inclusion and Belonging, located near my office. While it offered campus programming and hosted affinity clubs, at a basic level the CIB was simply a comfortable room where students of minority racial and gender identities could socialize or study. Officially open to all students regardless of background, the CIB’s function was to provide community and support for students who often lacked both.

On July 1, the CIB closed its doors—and a system that supported both student success and campus free expression disappeared.

In January, the Utah Legislature passed HB 261, a bill that forbade universities to “establish or maintain an office, division, employment position, or other unit” dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion. Governor Spencer Cox defended HB 261 as necessary to combat “the extreme changes in philosophy that have occurred on college campuses … over the past 10 years on the issues of race and DEI,” which he described as “a new and profound political ideology that focuses on dividing each of us into distinct identity groups.”

HB 261 is part of a wave of restrictions on university activities around race, gender and identity that my team at PEN America tracks across all 50 states. These laws have resulted in widespread closures of gathering spaces like the CIB; the University of North Florida even closed its interfaith center in response to a state DEI ban. More than a hundred DEI staff have been laid off, upending careers and lives. And an epidemic of “jawboning” and threats by elected officials has intimidated university administrators into closing DEI offices and cultural centers even in states without official restrictions.

But Utah was supposed to be different.

Unlike other states’ laws, HB 261 does not cut funding from universities or mandate the firing of staff. The Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf praised Utah’s “promising” law because “it makes real compromises with DEI supporters. Race-based cultural centers … will stay open.” In March, Utah Tech administrators predicted the bill might only require the CIB to change its name.

Yet Utah’s higher education commissioner, Geoff Landward, subsequently advised university leaders that closing cultural centers was “an inevitability … given the political climate.” Five of the six public four-year universities in the state responded by closing at least one of their centers, including Utah Tech’s CIB and its LGBTQ+ Resource Center; the sixth university, Utah Valley University, is restructuring several cultural centers.

Negative public perceptions of university DEI offices stem in large part from alleged excesses at elite private institutions, where DEI staff can number in the dozens—and where, indeed, some staff have pitted DEI against free expression principles in unhelpful ways. Conservative critics such as the Manhattan Institute’s Christopher Rufo have accused university DEI offices of being cultlike and places of “psychological conditioning.”

But the CIB never reflected those stereotypes. When I taught at Utah Tech, the CIB never had more than five staff members. As a white professor, I always felt welcome in its community space. My students who made regular use of its offerings were academically successful and engaged in the broader campus community.

I agree with many DEI critics that colleges should be marketplaces of ideas, where students must contend with views that make them uncomfortable or that they find offensive. But community gathering spaces like the CIB are a key part of what makes this sort of free speech environment possible. Such institutional spaces, where students’ identities and experiences are valued and understood, can help students process the uncomfortable speech they encounter elsewhere on campus and develop the resilience necessary to succeed in a pluralistic society.

“We don’t want anyone to feel marginalized or pushed out. That was not the intention at all of this bill,” Cox said recently. I suspect students can see through such remarks and recognize the real impact of what the state has done.

Utah Tech’s Center for Inclusion and Belonging operated “under the principle that every person’s unique life experiences enrich campus life” and add “a profound element to a true education.”

Maintaining such a center sends students a message about what, and whom, a university values and embraces. Banning it through government interference sends a message, too.

The undying Park Fire spreading through Northern California started about 10 miles from the campus of California State University, Chico. While the wildfire has so far spared Chico State’s main campus, it’s already displaced numerous employees from their homes and destroyed most of the university’s 3,950-acre Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve.

The fire, which experts say has been exacerbated by exceedingly hot summer temperatures, is a searing reminder to Chico State and the rest of the 23-campus California State University system about why CSU is backing numerous initiatives to promote sustainability, mitigate the effects of climate change and educate climate-anxious students about how to forge solutions.

“Our students are demanding we pay attention to climate change,” said Mildred García, system chancellor. “Our institutions already serve as crucial community anchors, and we need to leverage our resources and influence to build resilience for our communities.”

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What Can Higher Ed Can Do About Climate Change?

Helping other colleges and universities lead on climate action—through research, workforce development, operations management, public policy advocacy and community engagement—is why García co-chaired the Aspen Institute’s Higher Ed Climate Task Force, composed of 20 members with expertise in climate, education, philanthropy and business.

In collaboration with This Is Planet Ed, an initiative of the Aspen Institute’s energy and environment program, the task force recently published its Higher Ed Climate Action Plan, which provides colleges and universities a blueprint for advancing climate action that will benefit both campuses and the larger communities they serve.

“The effects of climate change are harming people and communities across our country and the globe. These effects will only worsen in the decades to come,” the report said. “There is a critical opportunity for higher education to leverage its strengths to build knowledge, foster innovation, enhance communities, and model solutions to help build a sustainable, resilient and just world.”

Some of the report’s recommendations include prioritizing climate literacy and solutions-focused community engagement, developing and communicating actionable research, and equitably distributing the benefits of climate initiatives.

While the higher education sector is uniquely positioned to both educate new generations and build on expand existing knowledge about climate science, it’s also emerging as a model for making an industry’s physical operations more environmentally sustainable.

“The education sector has a huge physical footprint, so the ability for it to impact net-zero carbon emissions goals is tremendous,” said John B. King, Jr., chancellor of the State University of New York system and former U.S. secretary of education, who co-chairs This Is Planet Ed. “But we also have this critical educational goal of preparing students for a world transformed by climate change across all disciplines.”

SUNY hired its first chief sustainability officers in 2023 to lead the development of a systemwide climate action and sustainability plan that integrates workforce development, research and academic programming. Some plan highlights: renovating campus buildings to become more energy efficient, transitioning toward zero-emission vehicles and establishing the Offshore Wind Training Institute and other workforce training programs related to renewable energy, HVAC, electric vehicles and charging, water, and wastewater maintenance and construction.

Joanne Mahoney, president of SUNY’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry, said there’s an urgent need for colleges and universities across the country to formulate climate action plans that share similar goals, which is where something like the Aspen Institute’s new report comes in.

“We have to have conversations among the 4,000 institutions of higher ed so we can go faster,” she said. “We’ve lost time debating the science of climate change for the last several years, and that was very valuable time that we can make up by working together now.”

Despite the overwhelming scientific consensus that Earth is warming as a result of centuries of industrialization, a relatively small portion of colleges and universities have prioritized sustainability programming.

The SUNY system is one of about 371 institutions in the U.S. staffed with sustainability professionals, such as a sustainability director or coordinator, according to a 2023 survey from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

Additionally, some 300 institutions hold a valid rating through the association’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS), which is a self-reporting framework designed to help colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. Institutions are scored on how they address sustainability through curriculum, research, community and campus engagement, and physical operations.

Much like the Aspen Institute’s new guidance, STARS is “an agenda for every single department on campus to recognize that there’s a role for everyone in the campus community to play as it relates to sustainability,” Meghan Fay Zahniser, executive director of AASHE, said. “Knowing that the experiences of students and their mental health is becoming increasingly fragile, we’re trying to get people to focus on action.”

Climate Anxiety

A 2021 study published in The Lancet found that of 10,000 16- to 25-year-olds surveyed, 59 percent were “very or extremely worried” about climate change, and 84 percent were at least “moderately worried.” More than half felt “sad, anxious, angry, powerless, helpless, and guilty.”

That’s something Mark Stemen, an environmental studies professor at Chico State, has spent the last few years trying to correct.

“The way we teach about climate change is making their anxiety worse,” he said of students. “They’ve been hearing about climate change since they were born. They don’t want to hear about the problem anymore. They want to hear about solutions.”

This became glaring to Stemen after the devastating Camp Fire shut down the campus for three weeks back in 2018.

“When we came back, students started talking about it and asking questions about it, and it wasn’t just in their science classes. It was in their philosophy classes, art classes and engineering classes,” Stemen recalled. “The students came together and said they wanted to see climate change taught more, but in all fields of studies.”

Soon after, students passed a resolution demanding as much.

With the university administration’s backing, Stemen organized a workshop to help faculty reframe their courses to include relevant discussions of climate change. That workshop was so popular that Stemen has since spearheaded the launch of the Faculty Learning Community in Teaching Climate Change and Resilience, which has helped professors at six CSU campuses redesign more than 200 courses across 26 disciplines, including political science, art and business.

And when students return to campus later this month looking for reassurance about their futures in the wake of the Park Fire, the climate-focused curriculum redesign—along with Chico State’s suite of other sustainability initiatives—will help professors guide those anxious conversations toward solutions.

“In truth, our campus’s carbon footprint isn’t that big compared to the other institutions in our town. But our educational footprint is the size of another state,” Stemen said, noting the exponential influence university researchers and graduates have in shaping climate science conversations. “Higher education institutions have the ability to spread this news and education unlike anybody else.”

John Steinbeck’s Travels With Charley is one of the great travel narratives. It is an account of Steinbeck’s journey across the country with his dog Charley, in his truck with a camper van. Steinbeck set out to find out “What are Americans like today?” He took his time and drove slowly. He stopped in small towns, spoke with locals, had contemplative drinks around campfires and sipped his coffee in the morning. Steinbeck’s journey was about the opposite of my recent experience traveling overseas with college students.

My travels with college students took place in Greece and Turkey across the span of two weeks. Steinbeck had a lot of time to himself. We were almost always all together. His companion was a dog who sometimes sighed and sometimes barked but largely kept quiet. Our bus contained students who could and did nap but were quite capable of expressing themselves verbally. Steinbeck drove himself; we were driven. He kept his pace slow; we wore ourselves out. He was his own guide; we had professionals. He was somewhat indifferent to where his journey might take him; we had a packed agenda. He was in America; we were overseas. We got, in many ways, different things out of our trips. But we were both edified by our experiences.

Steinbeck learned a good deal about America. I had already been to most of the sites that we visited in Greece and Turkey, but I learned a good deal about some young Americans. I learned who requires iced coffee to get going in the morning. I learned who cared most about historic cannons in town squares. I learned from my students how Kim Kardashian takes a selfie. I learned more slang than is good or useful for me.

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A great deal of evidence demonstrates how much students benefit from travel study trips and study abroad semesters. Many students benefit from the more experiential learning style. Learning about Athens in the classroom and then walking around the Parthenon is a special and memorable opportunity. Students come back from overseas trips with more exposure to the rest of the world and often an increase in confidence. For semester-long programs, students can return with enhanced language skills. Study abroad can offer an employment edge. There are so many reasons for students to study abroad. For faculty, the benefits are different but just as real.

Faculty leading a trip overseas should already know quite a bit about the subject and location, but the experiential side of travel study for faculty cannot be had elsewhere. Typically, faculty and college students interact mostly in the classroom. We stand, or pace, at the front. Even if we practice engaged learning, we are largely in control of the environment. We speak mainly on subjects we know about. It can be easy to fall into a pattern. We might even offer some of the same lectures and same examples year after year.

Outside of the classroom and outside of the country, the situation is different. We are not always in control, we do not always command the room or the bus and we cannot operate from a script. Travel study trips show us our own pedagogical limitations, which can be somewhat hidden behind the lectern. Trips force us to be more spontaneous and to stretch. They can also make us more real to our students. Something about being on a bus together all day and trying to scrounge up change for access to a bathroom rehumanizes, or at least deepens the human element of, the student-faculty interaction.

Even better than the opportunity for us and our students to see faculty members more clearly is the opportunity to see our students more clearly. In classes, we might care about and try to engage our students, but they are still students in seats rather than individuals whose food preferences you learn if you spend two weeks in close quarters. In fact, being up close with students can be a reality check about how little we actually understand them. It can be very easy to assume that, especially if we have taught for a while, we get students and know how they think and operate. Traveling with 18 of them can break that illusion in the best of ways.

Travel study takes us out of the laboratory and into real life. That grounding is good, but the reality you gain is often the opposite of disillusioning. Seeing our students learn about Greece and Turkey in person and watching them get excited was a way to rekindle the enthusiasm I had when I first saw these places in person—at their age. Traveling with college students is a powerful reminder about some of the best things about working at a college or university. One of those things is the seeing and sharing the transformation that can accompany acquiring new knowledge and experiences.

The age gap between us and our students is not just about cultural references and gas prices. Some might think faculty members have the advantage when it comes to life experience, but we often do not. It is very easy to interpret the world around us according to what we have personally lived or seen up close. As we get older, we start to expect less and less from life. Our horizons seem to be shrinking. College students—even those with difficult backgrounds and real challenges—are often the opposite. There is a sort of inborn optimism about being 21. Even those who think the world is a mess recognize that their future is full of possibilities. The future may well turn out to be great. We can gain a lot from being around people who feel this way. I was recently asked if college students are annoying to me. I was able to honestly answer that they usually are not.

A Chicago-area philanthropist has backed out of a pledge to give $10 million in scholarships to 1,250 low-income and first-generation college students weeks before the start of the fall semester.

Former Abbott Laboratories executive Jack Schuler announced last month that the Schuler Education Foundation was suspending its two-decades-old Schuler Scholar Program, which gave each recipient $10,000 over four years ($2,500 a year) as well as grants for health insurance and emergency aid, WBEZ, Chicago’s NPR affiliate, reported Wednesday.

To be eligible for the scholarship—and to get access to the tutoring and counseling the program provided—high school students had to maintain a high grade point average, take Advanced Placement courses and attend regular meetings. The scholarship could only be used to attend a select number of small liberal arts institutions, including Elon University in North Carolina and Pomona College in California.

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But Forbes reported that risky investments in health-care stocks fueled the financial collapse of the Schuler Education Foundation, as well as Schuler’s personal wealth; his net worth dropped from $1.1 billion in 2021 to around $200 million earlier this year.

In March, the foundation announced that the scholarship program was shutting down, pledging to honor existing scholarship awards.

But in July, the foundation backed out of that promise.

“It is with a heavy heart that we have shared some very difficult news that the Schuler Scholar Program has faced significant financial challenges and has had to shut down its operations,” Mitchell Morgan-Dunham, the program’s director of college counseling, wrote in a July 17 email to students, according to Forbes. “Despite our best efforts to manage these challenges and continue some support for scholars, the program is unable to fund scholarships previously provided to college scholars and high school students.”

Though that email included an apology, the students scrambling to figure out how to pay for college next year say it’s not enough.

“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Marcus Jackson, a Schuler scholarship recipient who will likely need to get a second job if he wants to stay at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, told WBEZ. “It doesn’t pay the bills. It definitely doesn’t send us through school.”

Five national Jewish organizations have released a list of recommendations for college and university leaders about how to prevent possible antisemitism and prepare for student protests over the Israel-Hamas war ahead of the fall semester.

The recommendations, announced Wednesday, are from the Anti-Defamation League, Hillel International, the American Jewish Committee, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and Jewish Federations of North America.

Guidelines from the group include clearly communicating policies on campus protests and ensuring they’re enforced, providing antisemitism education and training, and maintaining a clear system for reporting antisemitic incidents. The organizations also asked that campus leaders reject boycotts of Israeli products or academic partnerships and ensure faculty members create a “non-discriminatory learning environment.” They called on campuses to prepare for heightened tensions on Oct. 7 in particular, the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel.

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Adam Lehman, Hillel International president and CEO, said in a press release that the goal is to provide “college and university leaders with clear guidance and practical solutions for the steps they need to take to ensure a safer and more welcoming environment for Jewish students.”

The release highlighted a survey of 3,084 college students, 527 of them Jewish, by the ADL and Hillel International that found 73 percent of Jewish students and 44 percent of non-Jewish students experienced or witnessed antisemitism on their campuses last fall. It also included an AJC survey of 1,528 Jewish people that found a fourth of Jewish students reported feeling unsafe at a campus event because of their Jewish identity.

“The unprecedented surge in antisemitism on college campuses last year was utterly unacceptable, and yet far too many administrations failed to respond effectively,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and national director, said in the release. “We insist that all college and university leaders take significant steps to make Jewish students safer.”

The Kern Community College District will pay former Bakersfield College professor Matthew Garrett $2.4 million under a recent settlement agreement.

Garrett, previously a tenured history professor, sued district administrators in 2021, alleging they retaliated against him for accusing colleagues of using grant money for partisan social justice work.

The district Board of Trustees voted to fire him last year after interim president Zav Dadabhoy submitted a 19-page report of charges against Garrett, including unprofessional conduct. Garrett, a founder of the conservative-leaning faculty group Renegade Institute for Liberty, pushed back, saying he was being penalized for espousing his views, including questioning diversity, equity and inclusion work on campus.

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In the settlement, Garrett agreed to resign from the college, but he’ll receive an additional $154,520 for back wages and medical benefits since his dismissal. The district will also withdraw and seal all of its 2023 charges against Garrett, as well as any earlier documents that imply misconduct. The settlement says the agreement isn’t “an admission of any wrongdoing or liability by either the District or Garrett.”

The Kern Community College District confirmed it “settled all issues with Matthew Garrett” in a statement to Inside Higher Ed.

“To be clear, the dispute with Matthew Garrett was a disciplinary matter due to his disruptive actions on campus, none of which concerned freedom of speech. Kern Community College District unequivocally supports the right for our students and faculty to share their views and opinions on campus and elsewhere,” a spokesperson said.

“As this is a confidential personnel matter, we will not comment further.”

Garrett told The College Fix that the district had no choice but to settle.

“Facing an imminent ruling in my favor and the prospect of paying millions of dollars in damages, KCCD had only one viable option: settlement,” Garrett said in an email. “To my colleagues at Bakersfield College and nationwide, I say: Keep the faith; we are winning the battle, one case at a time.”

The number of students enrolled in higher education who have a disability has grown over the years, but they still face barriers in completing a certificate or credential. A May report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office found only 21 percent of students with disabilities graduate from college, compared to 38 percent of students who do not have a disability.

Colleges and universities have created specialized programs for students with intellectual or developmental disabilities to promote access to higher education and give wraparound supports for students’ unique needs.

Here are four examples of programs that provide certificates, peer support and campus engagement opportunities to neurodiverse learners.

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1. Wolverines Elevated: Utah Valley University

Utah Valley University launched a three-year certificate program for young adults (ages 18 to 25) with intellectual disabilities in 2021, thanks to $1.9 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Higher Education. UVU graduated its first cohort of four students in spring 2024.

Students who successfully complete Wolverines Elevated (WE) earn a certificate in integrated college and community studies, which includes coursework on self-determination, independent living and career development. WE students can also pursue a second certificate from any offerings at the university.

As part of the program, students are assigned peer mentors who help with student success skills including time management and course management, as well as support navigating Canvas and connecting them to campus resources. Students can also hone their professional skills with job sampling and internships, either on campus or in the community.

2. InclusiveU: Syracuse University

At Syracuse University, students with intellectual and developmental disabilities can participate in a four-year program to earn a certificate in their area of interest by declaring a major, auditing inclusive classes and electives, and completing internships across campus. InclusiveU is a long-standing program at the university and nationally recognized for serving large numbers of students.

The program enrolls over 100 participants each year and invites learners to engage in all campus has to offer.

“Our students are embedded into campus life,” says Brianna Shults, InclusiveU director. “Our students take regular SU classes, live in campus residence halls with their peers and attend social events across campus.”

Nondisabled students serve as campus mentors who help with in-class accommodations such as note taking and studying.

Participant feedback highlights how participants have learned independence, become more confident and feel as though they belong on campus. Graduates also go on to seek competitive full-time employment.

3. Skills for Life: Coastal Carolina University

Living on campus can be the first step in a college student learning to be independent, and the same is true for students with a disability. CCU offers a four-year nondegree program for students with mild to moderate intellectual or developmental disabilities called LIFE, first modeled off CarolinaLIFE at the University of South Carolina in 2008.

During the program, students receive support in their academic instruction and career education, as well as life skills and community engagement. A unique element of the program is its on-campus housing, which places students in four suites and 13 apartments, with 13 residential support staff who assist students with individual needs. Students can also opt to live off campus independently as they’re able.

Program participants can engage in all campus activities, including CCU courses, on-campus housing, student organizations, sporting events, work study and commencement. LIFE students also receive $10,000 in financial aid, regardless of need, and need-based grants between $7,500 and $10,000 annually.

All seniors in the program participate in a 30-hour-per-week internship, gaining 900 hours of work experience in two to three jobs throughout the year. In the past three years, 100 percent of LIFE graduates secured jobs within nine months of graduation.

CCU saw record participation with the fall 2023 class, welcoming 17 first-year students.

4. PEERS: Boise State University

Boise State’s inclusive, two-year postsecondary program for students with intellectual disabilities, PEERS, graduated its first cohort of students in May 2023 with a certificate in community and career readiness.

PEERS (short for Providing Exceptional Education and Raising Standards) participants are enrolled in Boise State coursework for credit or as an audit, as well as taking PEERS-specific courses that are pass-fail.

As part of their coursework, students complete paid or unpaid job experiences, which can take place on or off campus, for at least six hours per week during their final three semesters. Three of the 2023 graduates worked at the Boise State Rec Center while earning their certificates.

Program graduates said they learned how to budget, to ask for help and to take each day in stride.

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