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This Is a Summer to Organize (opinion)
We’re entering what would normally be the long-awaited reprieve of summer—a time to write, think, travel, to escape the demands of the academic year. But this will not be a normal summer.

Faculty may long for a break, but the government is actively operationalizing Project 2025, a blueprint for remaking every public institution, with higher education being the crown jewel of its antidemocratic agenda. At his 100-day rally in Michigan, Donald Trump declared, “We’ve just gotten started. You haven’t even seen anything yet.” Christopher Rufo, architect of the right-wing culture war, promises to plunge higher education still further into “an existential terror.”

We should be prepared for a potential wave of coordinated assaults on higher education this summer: reductions in Pell Grant eligibility for low-income students and slashed student loans, more dismantlement of scientific research funding, politicized accreditation crackdowns, new endowment taxes, expanded intimidation of international students and scholars, and further weaponization of Title VI and Title IX enforcement.

We recommend mobilizing on two simultaneous fronts this summer: by operationalizing mutual academic defense compacts (MADCs), and through direct activism. We must forge powerful alliances for mass protest. We suggest one often-overlooked but deeply strategic constituency— veterans.

Recent opinion polls show that most Americans oppose the Trump administration’s approach to higher education. This public sentiment gives us a crucial opening—and we must seize the momentum as we move into summer.
1. Mobilize and Form Unlikely Alliances
Faculty can take simple, student-centered actions this summer—sharing stories of student impact over social media using #DegreesForDemocracy, or highlighting the real-world outcomes of their teaching and research with #WhatWeBuild—to demonstrate the value of higher education and help galvanize public support. Op-eds and blog posts that highlight how higher ed strengthens local communities, drives economic growth and improves American public health and well-being are also powerful tools.

In addition, faculty must begin to mobilize on the streets for mass peaceful protest. This will require reaching beyond our usual circles and forming big-tent coalitions. Now is not the time for ideological purity or partisan hesitation. The threat we face at this point goes beyond conventional liberal-versus-conservative disagreement; it is an attack on democratic institutions, civil liberties and public education itself.

One particularly powerful, and perhaps surprising, potential partner in this moment is the veteran community. As a start, we urge faculty to consider aligning with veterans this Friday for the June 6 D-Day anniversary protest: Veterans Stand Against Fascism Nationwide at the National Mall, as well as at more than 100 other venues across the country. This is a great way for higher ed to show up in the lead-up to the June 14 No Kings Day protests.

Why Join With Veterans?

The shared legacy of the GI Bill links veterans and higher education. A public alliance with veterans has the potential to lend more political credibility to faculty and foster broader public empathy that will disrupt the Trump administration’s strategy of divide and conquer.

From Black WWII veterans who catalyzed the civil rights movement to anti–Vietnam War resistance, veterans have consistently served on the front lines of social change. Today, they are standing up to deep budget cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs; the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; and dangerous reductions to the veteran workforce—issues that mirror the assaults on higher education.

Professors and veterans are natural allies in more ways than many realize. Since the passage of the GI Bill in 1944, millions of veterans have earned college degrees and experienced upward mobility through higher education. Veterans are a protected class under antidiscrimination law and recipients of DEI programming. The veterans’ centers and services we have created to support them are now under threat from the Trump administration’s ideological dismantling of DEI. While trust in most American institutions—including higher education—has declined, polling shows that the military remains one of the few institutions still trusted by a majority of Americans. This trust is rooted in the military’s demographic breadth: Its members come from every region, ethnicity, income bracket and political background.

In contrast, higher education suffers from an image problem—often caricatured as elite, out of touch and overly partisan. Yet many of the most trusted professionals in society—nurses, teachers, first responders, small business owners and veterans themselves—were trained and mentored in our classrooms. Building visible alliances with veterans can help reshape public perceptions of academia, challenging the dominant narratives that seek to isolate and delegitimize higher education.
1. Operationalize Mutual Academic Defense Compacts
While public protest builds pressure, cross-institutional coalition building creates networks for effective resistance. Faculty and university senates across the country are approving mutual academic defense compact resolutions, which call for universities to join in shared defense of any participating institution that comes under government attack. But this is just the beginning. We need more, and these resolutions need to be operationalized through the creation of MADC task forces of administrators and faculty on as many campuses as possible. Presidents and chancellors need to endorse both the compacts and the task forces.

We must use this summer to refine model MADC resolution language to align with institutional legal and financial requirements, to prepare for the passage of resolutions and creation of MADC task forces in the early fall, and to build the infrastructure that will allow these coalitions to function as coordinated networks of protection, resistance and shared strategy.

That’s why we co-founded Stand Together for Higher Ed, a growing national movement to help faculty organize in defense of academic freedom and institutional autonomy. After beginning with a letter signed by about 5,000 professors in all 50 states calling on institutions to unite in a proactive common defense, we are now building a network of MADCs, campus task forces and shared strategies. This summer, Stand Together is offering model resolutions, organizing tools and communications support to help campuses build capacity for the fights ahead.

We’ve been struck by how many faculty members lack formal structures for self-governance on their campuses. Shared governance is a foundational pillar of academic freedom—though often overshadowed by the more visible right to pursue scholarship free from interference. We’re working with campuses to strengthen existing faculty governance organizations with the establishment of Stand Together groups, and where none exist, we’re helping to establish American Association of University Professors and other advocacy chapters to fill that crucial gap.

This summer, we must think strategically—and expansively. This summer calls for alliance building across our sister institutions of higher ed and across diverse nonacademic interest groups. The stakes are nothing less than the future of democracy.

Jennifer Lundquist is a professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Kathy Roberts Forde is a professor of journalism at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Together, the authors co-founded Stand Together for Higher Ed.
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June 3, 2025
Encouraging Alumni to Assist in Career Development
Networking events with alumni give students the chance to learn more about life after graduation and build career skills.
A May 2024 Student Voice survey by Inside Higher Ed and Generation Lab found that 29 percent of respondents believe their college or university should prioritize connecting students to alumni or other potential mentors. However, not every student has this opportunity before graduating; only one-third of graduates said their institution helped them to network with alumni while they were students, according to a 2024 National Alumni Career Mobility survey.

Administrators don’t always recognize this disconnect between current and former students; a 2024 survey of student success leaders found that 56 percent believe their career center effectively connects students with the institution’s alumni network.

Inside Higher Ed compiled six ways colleges and universities can invite alumni to partner with them to enhance students’ career development.
1. Mentorship Programming
Pairing students with graduates, particularly those in the same discipline or with similar career goals, is a common way to foster feelings of belonging among classes and with the institution.

Survey Says

A 2025 survey from Gravyty found that 80 percent of alumni engagement teams invite alumni to participate in community or networking events, but just over one-quarter ask alumni to become active volunteers. A survey of alumni also by Gravyty found that alumni who have served as mentors say they are 200 percent more likely to donate in the future.

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth hosts a Meet and Mentor mixer to introduce current and past students, building organic relationships in an informal setting. Syracuse University extends mentorship opportunities for alumni far from campus through virtual mentorship meetings. The university has coordinated over 1,000 meetings between students and alumni mentors over the past five years.

In some cases, alumni can provide insights into evolving industries in ways that career services pros may be less equipped to.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute created a mentorship program for students interested in green or sustainable jobs and industries, in part to help them keep up with the rapid changes in the field. The program has found more mentors than mentees so far, including alumni from a variety of industries such as architecture and design, waste reduction, consulting, and energy.
1. Office Hours Programs
Establishing an informal space for students to meet with alumni allows them to create connections and helps students build confidence for venturing into more professional networking spaces. Clemson University’s business school invites alumni to participate in drop-in office hours to review résumés, provide career advice or engage in a casual conversation with students.

Some colleges and universities designate alumni in residence who provide one-on-one guidance, give presentations, engage in networking receptions and more, as needed. The University of Connecticut’s career center asks alumni in residence to devote at least four hours per month for virtual office hours and to participate in several career events and programs.
1. Job Shadows
While many students may know what field they’re interested in working in, understanding the day-to-day responsibilities of an industry professional can feel out of reach. Alumni connections can address the transition to work and help students establish work-life balance. Kalamazoo College connects students with local alumni for a short-term job shadow during spring break, showcasing local businesses and industries that hire graduates.

Grinnell College also taps alumni around the globe each spring to provide job shadows and homestays, giving soon-to-be graduates a deeper look at what their future may be after college. The visits, which can last from a day to a week, connect students to new cities, professional networks and careers.
1. Microinternships
Microinternships have grown as a way to engage students in project-based experiential learning connected to a potential employer. At Goucher College, microinternships also introduce students to alumni who share their career interests. The six-week virtual experiences take place across the winter break and January term, and students are paid a stipend by the university, reducing barriers for participation.

Projects vary depending on the needs of alumni, and in the past students have edited books, organized data, created presentations or conducted market research. The goal is to enable the student to walk away with a portfolio piece they can talk about in future interviews.
1. Early Alumni Engagement
Colleges can also help graduating students make the transition to being engaged alumni by establishing programs for recent graduates.

Boise State University created BOLD, short for Broncos of the Last Decade, an alumni group specifically for students who graduated in the past 10 years, which holds tailgate events and a champagne reception for new grads during commencement weekend. BOLD also offers discounts on football and basketball season tickets, helping alumni maintain connections to the institution even after graduation.

West Virginia University and Marshall University partnered to create a talent-development pipeline, called First Ascent, for recent graduates to reduce brain drain in the state and connect recent alumni to peers and mentors.
1. Financial Support
Alumni can also build institutional capacity and help sustain programs for current students through financial gifts and endowed resources. Supported through alumni donations, Brandeis University’s World of Work fellowship program provides stipends of up to $6,000 for students to participate in unpaid or underpaid experiential learning opportunities, helping build their career skills.

Many career centers are also endowed by alumni, including the University of Central Florida’s Kenneth G. Dixon Career Development Center, named for the 1975 alumnus who donated $5 million in 2024.

Do you have a career-focused intervention that might help others promote student success? Tell us about it.
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June 3, 2025
Cross-Functional Marcomm Teams Drive Strategic Success

During my first foray into marcomm leadership, every project seemed on fire. If the project was due at 3 p.m., the first draft was ready at 2 p.m., giving little time for adjustments. I noticed this happened with almost every project. As I did some research into the production calendar, I realized there were more projects than time. That meant if one project got behind, there was a ripple effect that continued to impact more and more projects the team was working on.

An initial strategy to address this involved offloading projects that were not the best use of marcomm’s time. The second strategy looked at increasing capacity through student workers and approved freelance partners. Despite implementing both, the team still struggled to accomplish all the tasks, finding many delays in the back-and-forth process with the campus partner. As I started exploring what would help the team, the idea of cross-functional teams emerged as a viable strategy to yield better alignment with key constituents, increase efficiency and create better products.

Cross-functional teams are groups of people from various areas in an organization who work together to achieve a common goal. I have used these teams with key university partners including enrollment, advancement and athletics. Each cross-functional team has several members from the marcomm team (usually a representative from communications, marketing, creative and web) and two or three members from the other unit. Together, these groups meet regularly and work as strategic partners to meet institutional goals.

Cross-functional teams are time-consuming but can have significant impact on outcomes, culture and organizational success when done well. Below are a few benefits of utilizing cross-functional teams when working with strategic campus partners.

Moving From Service Provider to Strategic Partner

One benefit of cross-functional teams is positioning marcomm teams as a strategic partner, not just an order taker. This shift allows marcomm to more meaningfully support institutional goals. Instead of executing someone else’s strategy, these teams can apply their individual expertise while collaborating on integrated strategies that support the partner and ultimately the organization. For example, the web team member can begin approaching the project thinking about the entire digital strategy, instead of just making a website pretty. This role’s shift helps improve relationships between the teams but ultimately drives results.

Operational Efficiency Creates Wins Faster

Familiar teams work faster. Less time is required to navigate procedural and relational decisions, such as who needs to review something or what the feedback process entails. In cross-functional teams, the members become comfortable with these aspects, allowing them to begin working faster. The speed comes not only from familiarity but also from intentionality. Shared institutional knowledge of the goals and the internal processes to complete tasks results in more thoughtful responses when adjustments are needed because of changes like enrollment shifts, market changes or budget adjustments.

Consistency Builds Brand Equity

Aligned teams also create consistent work. Regular collaboration leads to consistency in voice, tone and look on projects. For example, when cross-functional teams are collaborating on the goals for a piece, there is more likely to be synergy in the tactical execution of the piece or at a least a shared understanding of the approach. When there is no alignment, the teams may agree on the goal but are less likely to agree on the strategies and tactics, resulting in disjointed messaging and less effective outcomes.

Cohesive messages also build trust and recognition with external audiences, which is critical to support for university objectives. Ultimately, consistency across teams strengthens the university’s voice in the market and amplifies the impact of every communication.

Internal Alignment Supports Goals

One of the biggest benefits of cross-functional teams is how they strengthen internal alignment within marcomm. By collaborating closely with colleagues across disciplines, the marcomm team is better equipped to align its work with the goals and priorities of campus partners. For example, telling our story takes on an enhanced meaning when it is viewed through the lens of growing enrollment or raising private institutional support. In addition, this cross-functional collaboration fosters greater accountability and trust within the marcomm unit itself. From my experience, the team often internally aligns on the approach and presents a strategic (and united) front when pitching concepts or suggesting strategy shifts.

Empowered Teams Create Elevated Outcomes

Cross-functional teams facilitate learning from all members. Hearing new perspectives from other divisions creates new understandings, both within marcomm and outside of it. For example, web team members learn about graphic design and enrollment best practices. This occurs because cross-functional teams are collaboration-based, so all team members are empowered to contribute ideas instead of only giving feedback on their traditional roles. More broadly, the entire marcomm team benefits from cross-functional teams if there’s a way to share these learnings with the full group instead of just those in a specific meeting.

Working Toward Success

When I first stepped into marcomm leadership, the team was running full speed just to keep up, racing from one fire drill to the next with little time to pause, reflect or align. What initially seemed like a time-management problem turned out to be a deeper issue of structure, communication and partnership. Through the intentional creation of cross-functional teams, we began to shift from reactive executors to proactive strategic partners.

Cross-functional teams require time investment to create shared mission, collaboration frameworks and understanding of the work at hand. However, these teams generate shared ownership and strong trust, central to ongoing collaboration, partnerships and organizational innovation. Most importantly, the outcomes are usually a more agile, aligned and high-performing organization—better equipped to meet both immediate goals and long-term strategic priorities of the institution.

Carrie Phillips, Ed.D., is chief communications and marketing officer at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

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June 3, 2025
City College of SF Announces Chancellor Hire, Then Backtracks

City College of San Francisco announced last week that it had hired a new chancellor—but never voted to approve the candidate and later deleted the news release, leaving the process in limbo.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that City College posted a news release on Tuesday announcing that it had selected Carlos O. Cortez as its next chancellor, pending approval at a Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday. However, the board spent several hours in a closed executive session before ultimately deciding not to make a decision on the candidate.

Trustees did not explain their inaction on the search, according to a review of the meeting. The board agenda shows trustees were also set to consider approval of a contract for Cortez, with an annual base salary of $350,000, but removed that action item after punting on the search.

Multiple speakers at the meeting expressed support for Cortez.

In the Tuesday news release that was later deleted, Anita Martinez, the Board of Trustees president, lauded the candidate for his “proven track record of success in academic innovation, fundraising, student success, and community engagement.”

His hire even prompted congratulatory posts on LinkedIn before the move was walked back.

Cortez was previously chancellor of the San Diego Community College District from July 2021 to May 2023 before he stepped down suddenly, a move he attributed to the need to take care of his ailing parents in Florida. Since then he has emerged as a finalist for six jobs at the chancellor or president level, including SFCC. Five of those jobs were in California and one was in Wisconsin.

The San Francisco Chronicle also reported that Cortez was arrested in Florida on suspicion of driving under the influence in January 2024 and later pleaded no contest to reckless driving. Cortez told the newspaper the charge was “due to a mixture of prescription medicine.”

Cortez told the San Francisco Chronicle last week that he didn’t know where his candidacy stands. He did not respond to a request for comment from Inside Higher Ed sent via LinkedIn on Monday.

City College officials also did not respond to a request for comment from Inside Higher Ed.

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June 3, 2025
Promoting Civic Action through Service Learning
***HEPI and the UPP Foundation will host a free webinar tomorrow, Wednesday 4 June at 1pm on embedding employability and civic action into the curriculum. There is still time to register your place: Sign up here***
- By Dr Ben Lishman, Associate Dean for Students, College of Technology and Environment, London South Bank University.
London South Bank University (LSBU) launched its Energy Advice Centre (EAC) in January 2023. The concept was a simple one. The energy crisis of the previous year had seen average household gas and electricity bills increase by 54% in the spring and a further 27% that autumn. The University already had well-established legal and small business advice clinics, so why not expand the concept to have students in our College of Technology and Environment provide local residents with energy-saving advice?

With grant funding from the UPP Foundation, we have created a database of advice and ideas, which we share through a website and a drop-in clinic where local residents can talk directly to our students. The students answer questions, make suggestions for domestic changes which will reduce bills, and remove layers of complexity around domestic energy.

One of Bridget Philipson’s five priorities for reform of the higher education system is that universities play a greater civic role in their communities. With 15% of our local borough affected by fuel poverty, the Energy Advice Centre (EAC) is making an active and meaningful contribution to LSBU’s civic mission and our commitment to reducing the university’s carbon use.

Through the website, our Elephant and Castle drop-in clinic, and winter workshops held in Peckham, Camberwell and Canda water, our student advisors have, to date, provided bespoke and detailed advice to over two hundred and fifty homes, as well as schools and SMEs. By providing information and guidance on issues such as improving energy efficiency, fitting insulation, installing solar panels and applying for home improvement grants, we estimate that the Energy Advice Centre has enabled savings of £75,000 on energy bills so far – and much of the advice we’ve given should provide savings for years to come.

The impact of our work has been noticed locally, with Southwark Council making the Energy Advice Centre its official Green Homes Service, providing funding that has allowed the centre to continue once the initial grant from the UPP Foundation had been spent.

It’s not only local residents who benefit from the Centre. In addition to being paid for their time, working at the EAC provides students with the opportunity to engage in civic activities while developing work-ready skills through applying learning from the classroom into the real world. This has enabled a number of the thirty students who have worked for the EAC so far to get jobs in professional energy advice, net-zero buildings research, and jobs in sustainability across their sectors.

I’m thrilled that the UPP Foundation, having seen evidence of the effectiveness of the model, has provided us with further funding to develop a toolkit, which provides guidance on how other universities can develop their own energy advice centres. We are now working with three initial partner universities – Wrexham University, University of Reading and Kingston University London – to set up their own centres. We think there’s a need for a national network of these centres, sharing good ideas, and we want to share what we’ve learned.

If you would be interested in exploring how to set up an energy advice centre at your own institution, the toolkit is being made available on the UPP Foundation’s website. At 1pm on 4^th June, HEPI is also holding a webinar on how initiatives such as the EAC can be used to embed employability and civic engagement in higher education.
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June 3, 2025
The economic cost of an unequal R&D workforce

The argument for investment in R&D goes as follows.

The more innovative an economy is the greater level of economic output it will produce. The more output an economy produces the wealthier a country will be and by extension its citizens will enjoy higher wages, better public services, and a greater quality of life.

Innovation is dependent on two things. The first is the infrastructure to make innovation happen. The great universities, laboratories, equipment, and less prosaically the roads, broadband, and public transport, that facilitate the physical transfer of ideas. The second is human capital. The educated workforce that can turn the raw materials of our collective knowledge into new products and services which make the economy strong and society better.

The ideal scenario has two major assumptions. The first is that the products of innovation will be widely felt in the economy to spur economic growth and these benefits will be felt by the workers who are not taking part in R&D intensive activities. In other words, private activities have a spill over benefit to the public at large. The second is that human capital will be allocated efficiently where the best people to do R&D will be placed in the best roles and the market will reward them for their time.

This means that work in R&D should return higher wages through the input (people’s labour) and through its output (a more productive economy.) A new independent report for DSIT has raised questions on whether the benefits of R&D are felt evenly either by its producers or the population at large.

Skill issue

As the report highlights there is little empirical evidence on the kind of R&D workforce the UK needs. The evidence of which kinds of people in which kinds of roles will spur which kinds of R&D activity is poorly understood across geographies, it is poorly understood which specific skills are needed, and it is poorly understood which skills are needed to meet the R&D challenges of the future.

This is surprising when we learn that 56 per cent of all business R&D spend is spent on staff and the number of people working in roles essential for R&D activity has grown by over a million in the past eleven years. Owing to changes in R&D accounting methodology it’s hard to suggest whether R&D activity or spending intensity has increased at the same rate. It is however true that there are regional imbalances in R&D spending, R&D intensive roles generally pay more, and despite an increase in the R&D workforce the UK’s overall productivity levels remains frustrating low.

Successive government industrial strategies, incentives, and supply-side reforms, aimed at any kind of redistribution of the proceeds of R&D activity may not have been an effective counterweight to the incentives of business to simply invest where they will see the largest private returns.

Imbalances

There is a distinct problem that the R&D workforce is imbalanced. Some parts of the R&D economy, particularly roles like software, have an underrepresentation of women, a significant number of people with level four and above qualifications, and growth is rapid in London and the South East. There is both a demographic and geographic equality issue which means the benefits of R&D investment are not broadly felt across the UK population.

This is bad on its own terms. It is not a good outcome for society that the public investment in R&D through subsidies, tax credits, capital investment, infrastructure, and the myriad of kinds of corporate welfare, is producing a workforce which has gendered earning inequalities amongst even the highest paid R&D workers (albeit this less than some parts of the labour market), where growing investment is concentrated in the most economically prosperous part of the country, and where there is significantly more instability for the least qualified workers.

As the report points out, academic literature demonstrates that a more diverse workforce is good for economic growth, productivity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. The inequality of inputs limits the UK’s innovation potential, which in turn impacts how widely the benefits of R&D are felt. Compounding this innovation trap is the UK’s poor record at in work training, geographic inequalities in access to jobs, challenges with university pipelines into specific skills, and geographic imbalances in hard to fill vacancies.

Universities

The solution to a more dynamic R&D workforce does not fall exclusively at the door of universities. As the report highlights, universities are churning out large numbers of graduates in subjects aligned to the R&D intensive roles. However, there is a significant undermatching in those graduates then being able to deploy their skills in the labour market. There is also a significant gender imbalance in university recruitment into STEM programmes which then leads into the imbalances in the workforce.

Interviewees for the report also suggested that university CPD for R&D industries could help close skills gaps and redefining their commercial approaches with SMEs could help with the workforce challenges. Yes, but it also doesn’t feel like universities should be responsible for the permanent reskilling of their graduates. Again, in work training in the UK is low.

The labour market in R&D is the product of every step up to someone entering the workforce and then the conditions once they are in it. At the current trajectory the UK will have an ever large R&D workforce but the expansion in its size will not occur conterminously with a geographic or demographic expansion of its impacts.

Universities are not factories that churn out graduates with neatly aligned skills to the ever changing demands of the labour market. However, this report does convincingly point out that the UK’s economy benefits from diverse firms and more diverse firms will only happen with more diverse graduates.

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June 2, 2025
Fixing the potholes in postgraduate funding
A birds-eye view quickly reveals the inadequacy and complexity of UK postgraduate student finance, as four systems operate (and awkwardly overlap) in a world of high tuition fees and rising living costs.

As practitioners, we have a much more ground level perspective: seeing how students struggle through these systems in practice and witnessing the winners and losers who result from a system that should, at least in principle, be equally useful to all.

With the UK’s national funding agencies opening applications for 2025-26, now is the time to update our understanding of postgraduate loan options, and highlight anomalies. Doing so reminds us to spot the obstacles students may not see: the metaphorical potholes that can quite literally slow a student’s progress or stop them progressing at all.

It also helps us ask whether some of these obstacles really need to be there.

When moving to study reduces the amount you can borrow

One major factor that prospective students often overlook is how changing their country of residence affects their eligibility for future funding – and how this can happen without them realising.

Take this real-world example:
- A student from England completed their bachelors and masters’ in Scotland
- As many students do, they supplemented their Student Finance England (SFE) Masters loan with part-time work (at their university)
- They chose to continue to a PhD, having found a supervisor and a place
- However, their residency had been updated from England to Scotland… meaning they are no longer eligible for a SFE doctoral loan (despite having already received its UG and PGT support)
- Because Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) doesn’t offer doctoral loan, they were left in postgraduate funding limbo
Whilst moving to study doesn’t affect residency status, moving to work does. This prevents people who have moved permanently to work from picking a preferred loan based on their address history. But it introduces perverse pitfalls that potentially incentivise against study mobility. And in some cases, like this one, it could hamper the chances of students from less affluent backgrounds – those who need to work while studying – from progressing to doctoral study.

The easy solution here would be for each funding organisation to ensure that work during study doesn’t impact residency.

When you better get it right first time

Most of the PG loan systems restrict finance for candidates with equivalent or higher qualifications.

Again, the design is fair in principle, but confusing in practice. Do students readily understand the difference between holding a postgraduate masters, an undergraduate integrated masters or a conferred “Oxbridge MA”?

And is the principle actually practical? To take a slightly hypothetical example:

Mark has an MA in Gothic Studies (yes, really). He paid for this himself almost 20 years ago (again – yes, really). He now wants to take an MSc in Data Analytics to support his work analysing prospective PG audience shifts at scale. A master’s loan would help him do so, but he can’t get one. Because he has a self-funded MA in Gothic Studies from 20 years ago.

In an age of upskilling and reskilling, it’s worth asking if this is really what we want for the UK economy. And no, the LLE won’t help either.

Should we allow access to the PG loan for courses in priority subjects, and/or where student finance hasn’t previously been awarded? It’s a conversation worth having, but there are no signs that the issue is top of anyone’s list of priorities.

When the postgraduate student finance system penalises you for being… a postgraduate

Postgraduate students are, by definition, older than undergraduates. As such, they’re also more likely to have children (or, indeed, other caring responsibilities).

A childcare grant is offered in England to help support student-parents, but eligibility explicitly excludes anyone not receiving undergraduate student finance or receiving a postgraduate loan. This feels like a fairly difficult needle for a masters student to thread and a clear blocker to seeing more of the UK workforce taking advantage of postgraduate-level training (something Mark has drawn attention to before).

Perhaps it is time to extend the existing Childcare Grant to postgraduates on similar age and earnings criteria.

When you could borrow less but pay nothing back

A more outlandish example, but one that also speaks to the unintended consequences of having multiple loan funding systems.

Meet Ewan and Evan, two 59 year-olds, financially independent and planning to retire at 60. Both have enrolled on the same MSc History (Online, Part-time, 2 years) at The University of Edinburgh, starting September 2025 with a course fee of £17,100. Here’s where things differ:
- Ewan is Scottish-resident and eligible for a SAAS loan of £7,000 which is paid directly to the university. He needs to find another £10,100 to cover the fees.
- Evan, a Welsh-resident can access a SFW loan of up to £19,255, paid directly to him. After paying the course fees, he may have up to £2,155 remaining
The likelihood is that neither will fully repay their loan given their age and the repayment thresholds. But whereas Ewan has had to find extra money, Evan has studied a masters “for free.

While there’s no simple fix, it’s crucial that funding agencies continue to provide clarity on terms, conditions and eligibility criteria. Universities should also signpost where to find this definitive information and ideally clarify the difference in funding arrangements to help prospective students better understand their options.

The importance of professional guidance

Exploring the nuances of the loan system in this way may feel somewhat obscure, but it allows us to better understand the genuine confusion and frustration that prospective students often feel when navigating the complexities of postgraduate funding, particularly UK postgraduate loans.

As professionals in the postgraduate space, our aim is not to encourage manipulation of the system, but we do need to understand how its unintended quirks can misdirect students and be ready to guide them when that occurs.

We also need to stay updated on loan policies and repayment thresholds. That way, we can help students make informed decisions.

The more we understand the nuances of postgraduate funding, the better equipped we all are to support students in their academic journeys.
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June 2, 2025
June 5th Closing Reception & Artist Walkthrough of *GIVE LIGHT* Exhibit @CUNYSLU

Higher Education Inquirer : June 5th Closing Reception & Artist Walkthrough of *GIVE LIGHT* Exhibit @CUNYSLU

June 5th Closing Reception & Artist Walkthrough of *GIVE LIGHT* Exhibit @CUNYSLU

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June 2, 2025
Leadership Matters During Crisis – EducationDynamics
Over the past few weeks, we have heard from some accomplished communications and marketing professionals that these campus positions are being eliminated or entangled in budget battles. Those of us who have had the opportunity to work in this field for decades know that, especially during “challenging” times, this type of short-term thinking will have negative, long-term consequences.

Consider the state of affairs and public perception of higher education. If ever there was a time for colleges and universities to amplify and demonstrate an institution’s value, including reaching new audiences and those already in the fold, it is now.

For college and university presidents and chancellors, leadership includes watching the horizon and longer-term planning, even as the ground shifts more frequently today. There is no time to coast or risk needing to recover lost reputational ground. Yet that risk is absolute without a steady, if not bold, approach to the work of campus communications and marketing professionals focused on defining, elevating and protecting an institution’s reputation and thereby helping to drive revenue. Supporting student enrollment, engagement and retention is a given for these dedicated staff members. Add the internal communications (remember COVID messaging and how people’s lives were at stake?), issues management, crisis communications and fundraising-related needs to the new kid on the block for many: strengthening your institution’s advocacy-related communications. This work is all core to institutional competitiveness and resilience.

Now that we have convinced you, here are suggestions for building on your team’s successes:
- Keep your communications and marketing team resourced and motivated. Support professional development opportunities, such as conferences, webinars hosted by national higher education organizations, including the American Council on Education, inviting speakers to “Zoom in” or tapping existing on-campus expertise. This doesn’t need to be costly, and such investments pay off.
- Agree to participate in local, regional and national visibility opportunities. Your words will matter, especially as president or chancellor, and can set a campus-wide tone. Coaching and editing counsel are readily available to you in advance of these opportunities.
- Include campus communicators and marketers early and often in strategic decision-making. They see around corners and will be mindful of risk and reward. The best in this field will speak truth to power and steer effectively.
- Encourage your team to connect with those whose communications and marketing efforts you’ve admired from afar. The higher ed communications and marketing professionals community, including groups such as PRSA’s Counselors to Higher Education and CASE, is generous and thoughtful, open to learning from each other’s successes and missteps.
- Show up for your team. A few minutes of in-person appreciation go a long way for those not often recognized for the impact of their work.
It boils down to this: How will anyone know just how impressive your students, faculty and staff are, the impact on your community and your institution’s groundbreaking research, if your institution does not have the structure and the best people to show and tell these stories in earned, owned and shared media channels? How do we expect to have the buy-in and build greater awareness and understanding of the value of higher education? Consider who you want to tell your institution’s stories and how, namely from an informed and experienced perspective, as you also consider the alternative during a tighter budget cycle. Finally, please know that we stand ready to partner with you and your team to help you make your mark.
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June 2, 2025
Harvard president Alan Garber delivers his welcome message

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June 2, 2025