My Students Can’t Read

The generational collapse in literacy is measurable, persistent, and likely to get worse.

Why Don’t Philanthropists Build Anymore?

The United States is living through a second Gilded Age. But unlike yesterday's magnates, today's billionaires prefer to write checks to existing organizations. They should instead build institutions that last.

You Might Be a Late Bloomer

The life secrets of those who flailed early but succeeded by old age...

The Microcredential Maze: Why The U.S. Is Falling Behind

With hundreds of millions of online credentials issued every year, the meteoric growth is vastly outpacing the growth of conventional degrees and course credits, and offers a potentially existential threat to some forms of traditional higher education.

The New Students at This Liberal Arts College Are in Their 80s

Baby boomers and the silent generation are attending classes at Goucher, part of a partnership meant to offset a steep decline in enrollment.

Why We Need to Pivot from a “Schooled Society” to a “Learning Society”

Learning Lab Director Lark Park, who has known Mitchell Stevens for more than a decade, caught up with him after the launch of the Learning Society on Stanford’s campus in February 2026. This conversation is about why he launched it, a brief history of the policies and forces that have shaped education and workforce, and what the revolution or evolution of a Learning Society might look like in the future.

The Future of Higher Education: IDEAS MATTER Podcast with Mitchell Stevens

As AI ushers in a fourth industrial revolution and universities face the onset of the demographic cliff, what does the future of higher education look like? In this episode of Ideas Matter, WashU’s Sandro Galea, dean of the Bursky School of Public Health, and Stanford University’s Mitchell Stevens discuss how higher education reached this crossroads and what kinds of institutional changes need to take place in order to create a more equitable society.

First-Time Adult Enrollment Dropped This Fall. Should Colleges Be Worried?

Nearly 16 percent fewer adults started college for the first time this fall compared to the previous year. Some say the change represents rightsizing after an enrollment boom, but others say it’s a reversal worth keeping an eye on.

Pivots Without Pathways: Career Navigation in a Fragmented Labor Market

This report details findings from a two-year, mixed-methods study examining how low-wage workers and community college students navigate their careers, including how they access, interpret, and use education and career information.

Two generations, one path: Chicago program sends students, parents to college together

Aron Kuecker thinks the economics of higher education are broken. As CEO of Hope Chicago, he’s on a mission to fix that.