Liz Willen

Opinion: On a college campus in Minneapolis, a sense of danger and anxiety prevails After ICE enforcement disrupts learning, human dignity and academic freedom must be our North Star.

A view from Minneapolis: "I firmly believe that we have been called to stand for the historic values that have defined higher education in our democracy for more than 250 years" hechingerreport.org/opinion-on-a...

STUDENT VOICES: Seeking the help and support of college mentors made all the difference on our path to higher education when the going got tough Two recent college graduates tell current and future students to find a college mentor or champion. They might be a family member, or they might be a teacher, coach or counselor. But students often ne...

Sage advice from students: Find your mentor, or champion. They might be a family member, teacher, coach or counselor.
You’re going to need help, and the sooner you ask for it, the better. hechingerreport.org/student-voic...

Higher education starts to fight back against attacks on its value and policies The higher education industry has launched several new marketing campaigns in the hope of reclaiming the message about itself in the face of political attacks and public skepticism.

“When all they’re hearing is ‘It costs so much’ or ‘You’ll end up as a barista in a coffee shop,’ then it’s harder to break through,” -- how higher-ed is fighting back: hechingerreport.org/value-polici...

"I live with fear." Life under ICE, via @hechingerreport.org

Trump’s national school voucher program could mean a boom in Christian education New Hampshire — where most voucher money has gone to Christian schools — may be a harbinger for ‘universal school choice.’

Inside the biggest change to K-12 education since Brown v. Board: via @anya1anya.bsky.social for @hechingerreport.org
hechingerreport.org/trumps-natio...

OPINION: Colleges need to recruit more men, but Trump’s policies are making it difficult - The Hechinger Report Aiming for greater gender balance, some colleges and universities have made efforts to admit and matriculate more men. Trump administration policies banning schools from considering gender and other i...

OPINION: There aren't enough men on college campuses. But it's not an easy problem to fix:
hechingerreport.org/colleges-men...

Trump's admissions data collection strains college administrators Universities must report student demographics, grades and test scores by March 18

One tiny indication that this was a rush job is in the Federal Register notice. Both enforce and admissions are misspelled in a proposal that’s all about admissions enforcement. Those words are spelled “admssions” and “enforece.” via @jillbarshay.bsky.social hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

Infants and toddlers are a growing group among homeless children Between 2021 and 2023, the number of homeless infants and toddlers increased in 48 states and the District of Columbia. Experts worry that official statistics have not captured the true number.

“We should be able to come to an agreement as a society that we should prioritize keeping families with infants and toddlers in their homes." And yet. hechingerreport.org/homelessness...

Talk nerdy to me: Teachers who use math vocabulary help students do better in math Using words like ‘factors,’ ‘denominators’ and ‘multiples’ may be part of a constellation of good math teaching practices

Teachers who used more math vocabulary had students who scored higher on math tests, according to a team of data scientists and education researchers: hechingerreport.org/proof-points... via @jillbarshay.bsky.social

The Trump administration’s biggest impact on education in 2025 It was almost impossible for the average observer to keep track of the Trump administration’s biggest impacts on education in 2025. Here’s what changed across colleges and universities, K-12 schools, ...

This is a look back at how the education world was transformed: hechingerreport.org/how-educatio... via @nirvishah.bsky.social

Probes into racism in schools stall under Trump Parents say racist incidents are going unchecked after the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights retreated from investigating schools in Lubbock County, Texas.

“They’re breaking people,” said Phyllis Gant, a longtime leader of the NAACP chapter in this northwest Texas city, referring to local schools’ treatment of Black children. “It’s just open season on our students.”
hechingerreport.org/probes-into-... via @merkolodner.bsky.social

Probes into racism in schools stall under Trump Parents say racist incidents are going unchecked after the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights retreated from investigating schools in Lubbock County, Texas.

MUST READ: “They’re breaking people,” said Phyllis Gant, a longtime leader of the NAACP chapter in this northwest Texas city, referring to local schools’ treatment of Black children. “It’s just open season on our students.”
hechingerreport.org/probes-into-...

The US wants more apprenticeships. The UK figured out how to make them coveted roles - The Hechinger Report ‘Degree apprenticeships’ that pair bachelor’s with jobs can be harder to get into than elite colleges.

As apprenticeship advocates in the U.S. embark on efforts to expand apprenticeships, some are pointing to England as a leader to follow: hechingerreport.org/us-apprentic...

One state made preschool free. Then dozens of child care centers closed in its largest city Universal preschool promised equity but benefits went to the wealthy

Why does free pre-school sometimes backfire? @jillbarshay.bsky.social unpacks: hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

Trump’s attacks on DEI may hurt men in college admission A government order that colleges disclose details about their applicants suggests that advantages by gender may face the same heightened scrutiny as purported racial preferences. That threatens to acc...

“The idea of males, including white males, being at the short end of the stick all of a sudden would be a truly ironic outcome.”  hechingerreport.org/an-unexpecte...

Support The Hechinger Report - The Hechinger Report ALL donations doubled until December 31. Monthly gifts matched for 12 months. Your gift to The Hechinger Report helps: Have questions about giving? Visit our FAQ page for information on donating by ch...

You know what today is. And you know what to do! Donations doubled. Support @hechingerreport.org: hechingerreport.org/support-the-...

How Trump 2.0 upended education research and statistics in one year Decades of carefully built infrastructure aimed at improving and tracking how American children learn vanished in an ideological attack

Blow by blow: @jillbarshay.bsky.social unpacks the carnage to ed research: hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

TEACHER VOICE: I didn’t think I needed the help or advice, but a new literacy teaching coach from afar gave me the self-confidence I lacked I never thought I would love having a literacy teaching coach and their feedback, but I now believe it is something that can work for many teachers. More coaches should be available for others who cou...

TEACHER VOICE: There are so few men in early childhood education that visitors to my classroom tend to treat me like a unicorn: hechingerreport.org/teacher-voic...

Advocates warn of risks to higher ed data if Education Department is shuttered But new hires and fresh research grants hint at a quiet rebuilding effort

Even as the Trump administration publicly insists it intends to shutter the Department of Education, it is quietly rebuilding small parts of it behind the scenes: via @jillbarshay.bsky.social hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

OPINION: It will take patience and courage to fix K-12 education without the Department of Education The Supreme Court’s decision to allow the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education provides a rare opportunity to rethink our current top-down approach to school governance. We should jump on t...

Many are dismayed and angered by Trump's dismantling of ED, this week, but John Katzman says it's time to move forward with a new and better plan: his. Opinion, via The Hechinger Report: hechingerreport.org/opinion-it-w...

STUDENT VOICE: College students are tired of being told that we ‘should be grateful’ for our internships. We also want to get paid Roughly one million college students have unpaid internships. The government must pass legislation mandating an end to this practice; all internships should include monetary compensation, and employer...

Internships are all the rage, but what about the paycheck? hechingerreport.org/student-voic...

Do male teachers make a difference? Not as much as some think A teacher's gender doesn’t matter for young boys, national study shows

A new national analysis finds no evidence that boys perform or behave better with male teachers in elementary school. This challenges a widespread belief: hechingerreport.org/proof-points... via @jillbarshay.bsky.social

Newspapers may be in trouble, but you can keep @hechingerreport.org alive and well: Your donation is double right now! hechingerreport.org/support-the-...

Advocates warn of risks to higher ed data if Education Department is shuttered But new hires and fresh research grants hint at a quiet rebuilding effort

Even many critics of the Department of Education want its data collection efforts to survive — just somewhere else: via @jillbarshay.bsky.social: hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

Trump administration cuts canceled this college student’s career start in politics This story was produced in partnership with Teen Vogue and reprinted with permission.  This story also appeared in Teen Vogue Christopher Cade wants to be president someday. His inspiration largely co...

"For them to close down all these programs, that essentially told me that I wasn’t cared about.” ttps://hechingerreport.org/trump-administration-cuts-canceled-this-college-students-career-start-in-politics/

OPINION: Higher education must include valuable workforce experience and training that helps students secure meaningful jobs Many entry-level jobs that previously provided initial workforce experience for college graduates now require two to three years of prior experience, leading to higher unemployment for college graduat...

OPINION: There are practical solutions to the experience gap problem when it comes to education and training programs: hechingerreport.org/opinion-too-...

Rural teacher shortages could get worse thanks to Trump’s visa fee In Halifax County, North Carolina, 101 of 156 teachers are international. A new $100,000 H-1B visa fee could effectively slam the door on future hires.

In this rural school district surrounded by rural school districts, recruiting teachers has become a nearly impossible task: hechingerreport.org/federal-poli... via @arielgilreath.bsky.social

Universal vouchers have public schools worried about market share TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — As principal of Hartsfield Elementary School in the Leon County School District, John Olson is not just the lead educator, but in this era of fast-expanding school choice, also its...

With his school just 61 percent full, this Florida principal has become something of a salesman for public education, and is frank about about the hustle required: “Customer service is key.”
hechingerreport.org/universal-vo... @laurapappano.bsky.social

Climate change ‘is the new liberal arts’: Colleges build environmental lessons into degrees University of California, San Diego, requires all students to learn about climate change, while other schools have added environmental sustainability requirements.

UCSD is perhaps the first major public university in the country to require all undergraduate students to take a class on climate change to earn their degree: hechingerreport.org/climate-chan...

College students hedge their bets in a chaotic labor market by double-majoring The practice of double-majoring is rising at many colleges and universities as students fret about getting jobs in an economy seemingly shifting faster than single majors can keep up.

It’s part of a trend that’s spreading nationwide, according to a Hechinger Report analysis of federal data, as students fret about getting jobs in an economy that some fear is shifting faster than a traditional college education can keep up. hechingerreport.org/students-wor...