Hi, everyone. This week I’m bringing you a dispatch from the Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit, hosted by the group Second Nature, where the Trump administration’s efforts to undo environmental action were very much top of mind. Thanks for reading. — Caroline Preston
WASHINGTON — Federal dollars for clean energy are disappearing. Environmental offices across the federal government are being dismantled. Universities are facing decisions about whether to scrub the words “climate change” from their projects in order to keep them funded.
Only a few weeks into Donald Trump’s second term, his attacks on climate action are already hindering universities’ efforts to curb their carbon emissions and minimize their harm to the planet, according to speakers at a conference I attended earlier this week hosted by the nonprofit group Second Nature.
Going forward, every higher ed institution needs “a Trump response plan,” said Gregory Washington, president of George Mason University, in Fairfax, Virginia.
Hundreds of college sustainability officers, university presidents, clean energy engineers, environmental researchers and others gathered for the event at a hotel blocks from the White House, where Trump has signed orders to “unleash” fossil fuels, sought to freeze clean energy funding, and overseen the removal of language on climate change from government websites.
Some takeaways from the conference:
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Universities need a plan to navigate the Trump administration. Colleges and universities should form rapid response teams to confront political threats, speakers said, and also find safety in numbers and advocate through coalitions. Institutions may also have to pick their battles and let some work go, said Washington. “They have a playbook,” said Shalanda Baker, the University of Michigan’s vice provost for sustainability and climate action, referring to the political actors trying to undo diversity, equity and inclusion, environmental justice and related work. “Let’s create a playbook — and let’s continue the work.”
Climate action is shifting. With a federal government hostile to climate action, higher ed can focus on making change alongside state and local governments instead. Universities can also partner with different types of organizations — health care systems, cultural institutions, businesses and others — to make progress. They might also consider forming alliances with institutions overseas.
Debates are raging about whether to avoid “trigger words” like “climate change.” Some speakers, including George Mason’s Washington, talked about how, with certain audiences, universities should avoid language that the administration objects to, including “climate change” and “zero carbon.” “It has to be about saying the right things to the right people so you can salvage and maintain the programs you have and continue to move forward on your mission,” he said. Others disagreed, arguing that changing the language in a proposal wouldn’t stop government staff from investigating the work programs actually do. “We have a clock over our heads. We need to stand in the work, and call it what it is, which is that we are trying to avert catastrophic climate change,” said Baker of the University of Michigan.
The threats are very real, not hypothetical. Dana R. Fisher, director of the Center for Environment, Community and Equity at American University, talked about how she was told in the last few days by people reviewing a government-funded project that unless she changed its focus from climate action to disaster recovery, it might not have a future. She noted that the American Climate Corps, a Biden-era program to deploy people into jobs related to fighting climate change, blinked out of existence after Trump took office. “We need to be realistic about what persistence and resistance looks like in channels like these if external forces will be shutting our work down,” said Fisher. She added, “The question I have for all of you is what are our universities going to do to protect us? Do I change the entirety of my website? What do I do about all the people funded for these grants who are now at risk of losing their jobs and their health care?”
Universities are complicit in climate change. Several speakers noted that universities have done far too little for too long on climate change, and their financial ties to fossil fuel companies are one reason. Jennie Stephens, professor of climate justice at the National University of Ireland Maynooth, said that universities’ complicity in climate change was one reason why she left U.S. academia for an institution overseas. “The fossil fuel industry and profit-seeking interests have captured academia,” she said, adding that as a result there aren’t research centers designed to help society move away from fossil fuels. She added, “We need to reclaim and restructure these institutions for bigger change.”
Students are tired of university inaction. “A lot of students are frustrated right now,” said Sydney Collins, a 2023 graduate of the University of Connecticut who is now a sustainability coordinator there. “A lot of students say it’s been bad and we’ve been terrified and you haven’t been listening. … And how dare you look at us now and say there’s nothing we can do. You haven’t been doing that work previously.” Fisher, of American University, said that anxiety, not anger, can motivate people to action, and that many people were outraged right now. To make change, she said, people need to think about “insider” and “outsider” strategies, and how students can sometimes be effective “outsider” voices pushing universities to change.
Still, campus climate action has accelerated, even in red states. The event celebrated higher education institutions that have had success in reducing their emissions and fighting climate change. Among those recognized was Central Community College in Hastings, Nebraska. One of its seven centers and campuses runs entirely on wind energy, another entirely on solar. In 2019, the college started a wind, solar and battery storage program to prepare students for jobs in those industries. The program has a 100 percent job placement rate, with students graduating into jobs that typically pay between $28 to $32 an hour, according to Taylor Schneider, the college’s energy technology instructor. Ben Newton, the college’s environmental sustainability director, said the college has had success in maintaining support for the program even in a state where opposition to wind energy is widespread because people see the financial and employment benefits. Newton said he’s accustomed to tailoring his messages for different audiences — for example, describing the specifics of climate science in a sustainability class he teaches and focusing more on resilience in the face of extreme weather events with administrators and others.
Higher ed needs new ways of measuring climate action. Second Nature, which encourages universities to make commitments to carbon neutrality, has been working to update those commitments to take into account different areas of work (like governance and education) and establish that neutrality is a milestone not an end point. That’s a step in the right direction, say some observers. “I don’t think it takes a lot of thought in the climate space to realize we can’t solve the climate crisis by paying everyone else to reduce their emissions,” said Alexander Barron, an associate professor of environmental science and policy at Smith College, who has argued that under the existing climate commitment model universities rely too heavily on purchasing offsets to meet their climate goals.
Going beyond neutrality requires all-in approaches. University officials talked about their strategies for moving beyond net neutrality and further reducing carbon emissions. Tavey Capps, executive director of climate and sustainability at Duke University, described the university’s efforts to ensure that all 10 of its schools — the divinity school, the law school, the business school and others — are engaged in and committed to climate action. Aaron Durnbaugh, director of sustainability with Loyola University of Chicago, talked about how climate action aligned with the Jesuit institution’s social justice mission. “We’re thinking about how we can ensure that more money goes back into communities,” he said, noting that the university had had some success by partnering on a solar project that provided unionized jobs for residents of nearby counties. “What does a Catholic heat pump look like? What does an equitable electric vehicle purchase look like?”
While many in attendance were reeling at the pace of the Trump administration’s anti-clean energy blitz, they also noted that there would be more to come. “They are just getting started,” said Fisher of American University.
“We have to stand in this moment,” said the University of Michigan’s Baker. “We have to be the tip of the spear and be courageous. I have a good job, but I’m willing to put myself out there.”
She added: “There are no safe harbors.”
Contact editor Caroline Preston at 212-870-8965 or preston@hechingerreport.org
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.
With InsightsEDU 2025 just around the corner, we’re excited to share some of the key updates and new features coming to this year’s conference, happening February 12-14, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. As the premier conference for higher education marketing and enrollment management, this year’s event promises to be our most engaging yet. Attendees can expect immersive experiences, innovative sessions, and exceptional speakers, all aimed at equipping higher education leaders with the skills and strategies needed to serve today’s Modern Learners. From the welcome reception to our new customized workshop experience, InsightsEDU 2025 is full of exciting opportunities. Read on to see what’s in store!
This year, we’re embracing the vibrant culture of New Orleans with the Bourbon Street Bash, a celebration that will give attendees the perfect opportunity to unwind, network, and experience NOLA in style. The evening will kick off with a second-line parade, leading attendees through the historic streets of New Orleans to the iconic Bourbon Vieux venue. With a live jazz performance, this event promises to be a memorable way to start an exciting conference experience with the higher ed community.
For the first time, InsightsEDU is offering a hands-on, interactive workshop led by Dr. Jodi Blinco, Vice President of Enrollment Management Consulting at EducationDynamics.
The workshop, “Unlocking Enrollment Success: A Customized Consulting Workshop Experience,” is designed specifically for higher education leaders who want to explore the complexities of enrollment models. The workshop provides an opportunity to enhance strategies for attracting, enrolling, and retaining students.
This session will foster focused discussions, tailored insights, and actionable takeaways, allowing attendees to apply the knowledge gained from the conference directly to their own enrollment strategies.
This year, we are excited to welcome Po-Shen Loh, an acclaimed entrepreneur, mathematician, and Carnegie Mellon University professor, to the InsightsEDU stage.
His keynote session, “The Power of Reinvention: Unlocking Innovation to Inspire Action,” will challenge attendees to rethink problem-solving, leadership, and innovation in the ever-evolving higher education landscape. Drawing from his diverse experiences in academia and social entrepreneurship, Po-Shen Loh will explore how institutions can apply startup strategies to innovate and create programs that resonate with students’ needs. His unique experiences throughout higher ed and entrepreneurship make him uniquely qualified to address the conference’s innovative goals and inspire strategies for institutions looking to drive meaningful change.
Expect to hear from top industry leaders at InsightsEDU, with companies such as EY Parthenon, Slate, Google, Meta, and Reddit, joining to share their expertise in digital engagement, advertising, and marketing strategies. These sessions will help institutions stay ahead of emerging trends, enhance their online presence, and develop strategies to connect with students in innovative ways. Attendees will gain exclusive insights into how leading platforms are shaping the future of student engagement and higher education marketing.
With RW Jones Agency recently becoming a part of the EducationDynamics team, InsightsEDU 2025 will feature even more expert-led sessions and strategic insights. RW Jones Agency’s expertise in public relations, crisis communications, and higher education marketing is sure to provide valuable perspectives for attendees.
Here are some of the key sessions featuring RW Jones Agency’s team:
A Roadmap to Marketing Transformation: Learn how to implement a marketing maturity model to enhance strategy, optimize resources, and gain real results for your MarCom division. This session will provide insights from experienced professionals who have successfully implemented maturity models to drive impactful results at institutions.
A Behavior-Informed Approach to Prospective Student Engagement: Discover how student personas can transform outreach efforts. Building on insights from a recent nationally representative survey of high schoolers, this session explores students’ primary motivations and factors surrounding decision making, offering key insights for higher ed marketers, communicators, and enrollment leaders.
Lights, Camera, Connections: How to Produce Compelling Videos That Connect: Join Karolyn Pearson, a former network news producer, and Morgan Aguilar, a former TV reporter, for an exciting session on crafting engaging and authentic visual storytelling to captivate student audiences and enhance your institution’s brand.
The Art and Science of Why People Care: Learn how to create audience-centered messaging that aligns with students’ values, increases engagement, and builds lasting relationships while authentically marketing your brand.
From Interest to Enrollment: Building Real Student Connections on Social Media: Explore the latest tactics and insights to address an evolving social media landscape and cater to Gen Z and Millennial audiences. This session will explore the latest trends, engagement strategies, and creative tools to foster meaningful interactions on social media that lead to enrollment.
With an impeccable lineup of sessions, RW Jones Agency’s expertise will provide valuable new perspectives at InsightsEDU 2025, ensuring that attendees leave with actionable strategies to better connect and serve Modern Learners.
With immersive experiences, groundbreaking discussions, and an incredible lineup of speakers and sessions, this year’s conference is shaping up to be the best one yet. Whether you’re looking to refine your enrollment strategy, explore new marketing tactics, or simply connect with industry leaders, InsightsEDU 2025 is the place to be for higher education professionals.
We look forward to seeing you at InsightsEDU 2025!
JOLIET, Ill. — After several challenging and stressful months in the neonatal intensive care unit, Karen Heath couldn’t wait to take her triplet sons home. The boys had been born severely premature at 25 weeks, each weighing a bit over a pound. In the early hours, doctors cautioned they would not survive long. The triplets, thankfully, proved the doctors wrong. But for about three months, Heath was not allowed to hold them, satisfying herself with photos, videos and kisses blown.
The long-anticipated discharge in the early summer of 2019 was joyful, but also rushed and, as Heath recalls it, somewhat cavalier. An hour before release, a physical therapist showed Heath how to help the babies gain strength by gently stretching their legs out. A nurse gave her a quick tutorial on how to use the oxygen tanks they would need for the next couple of months. And Heath gathered together basic necessities and a few mementos: diapers, pacifiers, blood pressure cuffs and tiny hospital bands.
But no one at the hospital, one of Chicago’s largest, told Heath or her husband what she felt would have been the most helpful advice in the long run: The triplets’ low birth weight alone meant they were automatically eligible for what’s known as early intervention services, which can include speech, physical, occupational and other therapies.
“This should have been a conversation way before the boys were even released,” said Heath, who lives in Joliet, a city in the suburbs of Chicago. (She declined to identify the hospital to The Hechinger Report because her children still receive regular treatment there.)
Related: Our biweekly Early Childhood newsletter highlights innovative solutions to the obstacles facing the youngest students. Subscribe for free.
Doctors, and science more broadly, have made astounding gains in their capacity to save the lives of extremely premature babies, defined as those born before 28 weeks. In the 1960s, just 5 percent of premature infants with respiratory distress survived; now it’s about 90 percent.
Despite these encouraging gains, there’s an abysmal record across the country, exemplified by Chicago, of helping these babies after they exit the NICU, particularly with access to the therapies that most reduce their risk of needing intensive, and expensive, special education services as schoolchildren. Many children who receive early intervention do not require special education services in kindergarten, including slightly less than half of those with developmental delays, according to one 2007 study.
“We have so much information on early brain development now,” said Alison Liddle, a physical therapist in Chicago who is part of a team that studied access to early intervention in the city. One of the findings was that the system is difficult for parents to navigate. “Support systems have to catch up. We have a critical window to help families.”
Three of Vasquez’ four children received early intervention services as infants and toddlers. Credit: Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report
Federal law says children with developmental delays, including newborns with significant likelihood of a delay, can get early intervention from birth to age 3. States design their own programs and set their own funding levels, however. They also set some of the criteria for which newborns are automatically eligible, typically relying on qualifying conditions like Down syndrome or cerebral palsy, extreme prematurity or low birthweight. Nationally, far fewer infants and toddlers receive the therapies than should. The stats are particularly bleak for babies under the age of 1: Just 1 percent of these infants get help. Yet an estimated 13 percent of infants and toddlers likely qualify.
“It’s like people being told at 65 that they are eligible for Social Security and a year later they are not on either Social Security or Medicare,” said Dr. Michael Msall, a neurodevelopmental pediatrician who has led efforts on early intervention access at the University of Chicago’s hospital system and is on the study team. “We’d have riots in the streets.”
The stakes are high for these fragile, rapidly growing babies and their brains. Even a few months of additional therapy can reduce a child’s risk of complications and make it less likely that they will struggle with talking, moving and learning down the road. In Chicago and elsewhere, families, advocates and physicians say a lot of the failures boil down to overstretched hospital and early intervention delivery systems that are not always talking with families very effectively, or with each other hardly at all. “They really put the onus of helping your child get better outcomes on you,” said Jaclyn Vasquez, an early childhood consultant who has had three babies of her own spend time in the NICU.
Hospitals use different processes for educating families about early intervention, which often occurs at an overwhelming time for parents. “That initial connection with the families is tricky because the families tend to be very busy when they take the baby home,” said Dr. Raye-Ann deRegnier, the lead physician on the study and director of the Early Childhood Clinic at Lurie Children’s.
At Lurie and Chicago’s Prentice Women’s Hospital, where deRegnier works, the physical therapists are generally responsible for informing families of early intervention. “I wouldn’t say that happens in every NICU,” she said. “Sometimes it’s discharge nurses, sometimes discharge coordinators, sometimes others.”
Under the current landscape, it’s helpful when physical therapists have conversations with families early and often, deRegnier said. But even when that happens, miscommunications can occur. The doctor said she recently made a point to talk to a mother about early intervention, and the woman said she had never heard of it. Yet the physical therapist had previously had a lengthy conversation with the mother about the program.
In Illinois three years ago, the state’s Legislative Black Caucus urged the creation of demonstration projects at neonatal intensive care units in hospitals, intended to model how to better connect families to services. The state’s General Assembly supported the idea, but no funding was attached to the recommendation, and it has not become a reality.
However, a coalition of therapists and hospital physicians, including deRegnier, has been working on a pilot study that included a look at barriers that families face after they leave the NICU at several of Chicago’s largest hospitals.
Their findings, published in late December, show that only 13 percent of the 60 families — all of them Medicaid eligible and with infants who automatically qualified for early intervention — were receiving those therapies three to four months after discharge. In Illinois, the therapies are overseen by the state’s Department of Human Services and its Division of Early Childhood. While the specific reasons varied, most of it came down to bureaucracy and bad communication, according to the study team.
“When you make the system so difficult to navigate, families give up,” Liddle said. “There were many families just waiting out there for services that they really need.”
Every weekday afternoon after play time, Karen Heath’s children, including her 5-year-old triplets, read books with their grandmother. Credit: Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report
By the end of June 2019, Heath’s triplets were all at home along with their 1-year-old brother. Although her husband had to return to work, Heath’s mother was around to help. The family had little idea of how best to support their growth. Doctors had warned her that the boys might never be able to sit up, walk or communicate like other children. “My main focus for so long was on coming home,” she said. “Once we got home, I’m like, ‘Now what?’”
About two weeks after the homecoming, a nurse from the county stopped by to check in on the 6-month-olds. Heath can’t say for sure, but she believes that the woman must have made a referral to early intervention because several weeks later, in August, the family got a call saying that the triplets might be eligible for therapy. By that time, they were more than 7 months old.
Heath leapt at the opportunity, but the process moved slowly after the initial call. In October, when the boys were 9 months, Heath got word that they had been automatically eligible all along because of low birth weight. But it wasn’t until early 2020, after the boys celebrated their first birthday, that the therapy was scheduled to start.
Then the pandemic hit, so the initial physical and developmental therapy sessions with three near-toddlers were all attempted over Zoom. “The boys were uninterested,” their mother recalled. “Try doing therapy on an iPad with triplets and (a toddler) hanging around.”
It wasn’t until the summer, when the children were 18 months, that they got their first in-person therapy. “The hospital should have had something in place so these kids could have gotten the services as soon as they came home,” Heath said. “I really feel like they dropped the ball. No one can blame the pandemic because they came home way before Covid started.”
Family photos, including from her triplets’ lengthy stays in the hospital, line the walls of Karen Heath’s living room. Credit: Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report
The families participating in the multihospital pilot study had a leg up on Heath: They were at least told about early intervention, with an initial referral made before leaving the NICU. But even that was not enough for most of them to connect successfully with help. A lot of the struggle came down to “logistical and technological barriers,” said Zareen Kamal, a policy specialist in Illinois for Start Early, which advocates on early childhood issues.
The early intervention system in Illinois is decentralized, with 25 coordinating offices across the state. Caseloads are supposed to be capped at 45, but due to underfunding and short staffing, average much higher, with some reports of service coordinators juggling over 100 families. Many of the offices rely on fax for communications, with no statewide electronic system in place. Incoming phone calls to families from the coordinators often register as spam. And most of the offices don’t staff the phones in the evening or weekends, when working parents are most likely to reach out.
All this means that case workers sometimes remove families from their list as “uninterested” when, in fact, the parents are unaware, or unsure how to take the next step.
The state is currently taking steps to ensure equitable access to early intervention, said a spokeswoman for the Department of Human Services in an e-mail. That includes updating the standardized referral form and exploring options for electronic referrals.
“We realize that technology needs to be modernized,” wrote Rachel Otwell, the spokesperson.
That said, phone and fax remain the primary means of communication due to privacy concerns, she said.
Otwell said the agency is engaged in ongoing surveys and focus groups with thousands of early childhood community members. The state has made progress with staffing vacancies in early intervention, she added, and remains focused on “lowering caseloads to recommended levels.”
As the early intervention system currently exists in many cities and states, inequities are baked into every step of the process. Lower-income families are less likely to receive timely referrals, get screened and approved expeditiously, and then connect with therapists available for in-person work. Families with private insurance can often bypass the multistep bureaucratic process by having the therapies covered through those benefits. Studies have shown that Black newborns for a host of reasons, including higher poverty rates and weaker early medical care on average, are five times less likely than white ones to receive early intervention services.
In addition to early exposure to critical therapies, Vasquez says that strong sibling relationships and support has helped her children to thrive. Credit: Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report
For newborns there is pervasive confusion around who is automatically eligible, even among those who work in the early intervention system, Liddle says. “Some children are turned away from receiving services despite being autoeligible, because they do not show a delay on a specific assessment tool,” she said.
Complicating matters, states have different eligibility criteria: In some states, an infant with lead poisoning or a parent with a mental health diagnosis qualifies for the therapies, whereas in others they do not.
There’s also a disconnect between the medical and early intervention systems, said Msall, the University of Chicago-based physician. His colleagues in NICUs routinely fax referrals over to early intervention, he said, but the information disappears into the ether, with no follow up or technology in place for the physician to know if the connection was made or what an initial evaluation found. DeRegnier agreed that the follow-up process is complicated, partly because families may need to sign a consent form for information to be shared even with physicians.
In a nutshell, families too often have to navigate through the system entirely on their own — with only the most knowledgeable and well resourced likely to find their way to a successful outcome.
Vasquez felt immensely grateful her background as a special education teacher made it easier to supplement the work of overstretched hospital staff when her twin daughters were born at 27 weeks four years ago. The smaller of the two spent over a year so medicated in a Chicago NICU that she was essentially in a medical coma. But as soon as possible, Vasquez and her husband stepped in to help provide some early therapies. Following the advice of hospital therapists, they helped her sit up, roll over, learn to play with toys and regularly gave her full body massages. (She didn’t want to name the hospital because she believes any shortcomings were reflective of systemic issues, not specific to that hospital.)
Then, when the baby was finally released after 19 months in the NICU, Vasquez knew to call early intervention without delay. The family wasn’t more than five minutes into their drive home before she picked up her cellphone and rang them up from the back seat. “There was no second to lose,” said Vasquez, whose work as an early childhood consultant focuses on equity.
Within weeks of arriving home, the baby started upward of a half dozen different therapies, including speech, nutrition and mobility.
Partly because of the quick introduction to therapies, formal and informal, Vasquez’s daughter is thriving today at the age of 4. The girl had to spend only a few months in a self-contained classroom for children with severe disabilities before teachers said she was ready to join the “blended” class. It’s a milestone that seemed unreachable just a couple of years ago.
“After six months (in school), they said she is doing awesome,” Vasquez said. “I was told my child would need a wheelchair by kindergarten. She is running, dancing, chasing siblings, dancing on trampolines — all because of the amount of time we poured into therapies at a very young age.”
Jaclyn Vasquez plays outdoors with her children on a fall weekend afternoon. She says her background in special education made it easier to help with early therapies they needed. Credit: Camilla Forte/The Hechinger Report
Physicians, advocates and families all agree that parents shouldn’t have to wait until leaving the NICU to begin lining up services. The coalition of groups working on the study recommend staff embedded at the hospitals who can help families enroll in early intervention before discharge. Each family who is automatically eligible would also leave the hospital with a legal document entitling them to therapy. “Our ultimate dream is to have the connection between [early intervention] and families be completed before they go home, and have the therapist assigned before they leave,” said deRegnier.
Many advocates also believe that for those babies on an extended stay in the hospital, those therapies should be available in the NICU. “Early intervention is birth to 3 — it shouldn’t matter if you are living in the hospital or at home,” Liddle said. “You are still entitled to those services.”
In Illinois, advocates say they hope to get funding to pilot a program at a few NICUs that would finally create the demonstration sites the Legislative Black Caucus called for years ago. If successful, the model could be expanded statewide. “Even if we are in one or two NICUs and can see how it turns out, that would be helpful,” says Illinois state Rep. Joyce Mason, who chairs the House committee focused on early childhood education.
In the meantime, too many families still find the crucial therapies to be elusive.
Even when Heath’s children finally started in-person therapy, it was limited in scope. The physical therapist, who Heath describes as an “angel,” quickly recognized that they should also be receiving other help as well, including speech and occupational therapy. Yet by the time the family worked through the bureaucratic machinery to get some of those in place, the boys were nearly 3 — close to aging out of early intervention. They received a few months of speech, but never got the occupational therapy they were entitled to.
If they had gotten the therapies earlier, “they would be in a different place at this point,” Heath says. The boys, who were diagnosed with cerebral palsy shortly before their fourth birthdays, struggle with speech and reading skills, in particular, with one of them requiring a device in order to express himself. “If you don’t know them well, it’s hard to understand what they are saying all the time,” Heath says. “If they had gotten all the services right off the bat, they wouldn’t be as far behind.”
Yet the triplets have long surpassed doctors’ early warnings that they might never sit up, walk or reach other developmental milestones. Newly arrived home from school on a clear fall afternoon not long before Halloween, the triplets, now in kindergarten and dressed as Spider-Man for “superhero” day, played exuberantly in a finished basement space. They cried out gleefully while zooming after each other in miniature bumper cars.
Heath is grateful her sons are progressing with the help of school, devoted family and the committed physical therapist, who still works with the boys. But she looks back at their first nine months and laments that, so focused on how to help the babies survive, no one in a vast team of doctors, nurses and social workers thought to discuss how the family could best help them thrive. “There was no next step for my family when we left the hospital,” she said. “It was all on us.”
This story about early intervention services was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Carr is a fellow at New America, focused on reporting on early childhood issues.
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Many students in New Zealand have a story to tell about “streaming” — being grouped into separate math classes based on their perceived ability to master the subject.
Manaaki Waretini-Beaumont, now 18 and an environmental science major at the University of Canterbury, learned about the downside of streaming when she enrolled in Avonside Girls’, a 1,000-student high school in Christchurch.
Avonside starts at Year 9, equivalent to eighth grade in the United States, and ends at Year 13, equivalent to 12th grade. Before the start of her Year 9 term, Waretini-Beaumont and her fellow students were divided up into groups to take tests in “maths,” reading comprehension, and patterns and shapes.
Afterward, the students were separated into lettered groups that spelled out the word B-I-N-O-C-U-L-A-R-S. Waretini-Beaumont was a “9-N” student in mathematics — as she describes it, “the top of the middle block.”
But she said she didn’t feel comfortable as one of the few Māori students in the class.
“I felt like I wasn’t good enough to be in that space,” said Waretini-Beaumont, whose iwi, or tribal affiliations, are Te Āti Haunui-A-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Apa, Ngāti Paoa. “If there was something I wasn’t understanding, I felt like I wasn’t able to say that, because I’m supposed to be in the smart class with all these smart people.”
So she shifted to another mathematics class with her Māori friends, who were in the “S” classes.
“Being in two different spaces, I could really see the change,” Waretini-Beaumont said. “At the top classes, the teachers’ language towards the students was always positive and it was always encouraging. And they really wanted students to learn and were trying to help them.”
Manaaki Waretini-Beaumont experienced the effects of “streaming,” or academic ability tracking, during her time as a high school student at Avonside Girls’ School in Christchurch, New Zealand. Credit: Image provided by Richie Mills/Ngāi Tahu
In the classroom where her friends were assigned, in contrast, the mathematics work mostly amounted to simple worksheets — “coloring pages and word find,” Waretini-Beaumont said.
For years, much like in the United States, New Zealand has worried about sliding student proficiency in mathematics, as captured by both national and international test scores. Later this month — the beginning of the New Zealand school year — the country is launching an overhaul of mathematics instruction that education leaders hope will reverse the trend.
But other groups in the country have been trying to approach the problem of academic achievement from a different angle. They believe that streaming is driving achievement gaps in the country, including in mathematics. Tokona te Raki/Māori Futures Collective, a think tank focused on youth, has been working since 2019 to persuade schools to voluntarily end the practice by 2030. The initiative is called “Kōkirihia”— Māori for “take action.”
Streaming is just one of many ways that schools group students by academic ability. Ability grouping can include separating students into vocational or university tracks at different schools as early as age 10, as is common in Germany and other Western European countries. But it could also include teachers creating informal and non-permanent groupings within their own classrooms to provide enrichment or extra support to students who need it.
In New Zealand, critics say streaming pushes two groups into so-called “cabbage,” or lower-level mathematics, at a disproportionate rate: Māori students, who are indigenous to New Zealand, and students who are Pasifika, the New Zealand term for people from Samoa, Tonga and other nations in the Pacific Islands.
In the 14th century, the Polynesian ancestors of today’s Māori migrated thousands of miles by canoe to what they called Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud. Hundreds of years later, English settlers came to engage in trade and now represent the majority ethnic group in New Zealand. In 1840, the two groups signed the Treaty of Waitangi that established New Zealand’s bicultural identity.
Many youth with Pacific Island backgrounds are descended from people who were encouraged to move to New Zealand after World War II to address a labor shortage.
Both Māori and Pasifika are a fast-growing, and young, population. By the 2040s, more than a third of children in the country are expected to identify as Māori, according to Stats NZ, the country’s official data agency.
The New Zealand Ministry of Education’s official stance discourages streaming, but the country’s more than 2,500 schools operate with a great deal of independence: Principals have similar powers and responsibilities as school superintendents in the United States, and each school has an elected board that sets policy and manages budgets.
New Zealand does not track streaming or ability grouping by race or ethnicity, but surveys show it is common: Eighty percent of students are in schools that group students by ability level in mathematics, according to a 2022 survey conducted by the Program for International Student Assessment.
Other data shows a wide academic gap among students of different ethnicities in New Zealand.
Students at May Road School in Auckland, New Zealand, work through a lesson on fractions. Credit: Becki Moss for The Hechinger Report
In the Auckland region, the country’s most densely populated of 16 regions in all, 76 percent of Asian students left secondary school with the highest of three levels on the country’s National Certificate of Educational Achievement in 2022. Like a high school diploma, the NCEA Level 3 is a minimum qualification to enter college in New Zealand.
About 66 percent of Pākehā, or white, students left school with that credential. About 46 percent of Pasifika students and 40 percent of Māori students did the same.
In comparison, the high school graduation rate by race and ethnicity in the United States in the 2021-22 school year was 94 percent for Asian American/Pacific Islander students, 90 percent for white students, 83 percent for Hispanic students, 81 percent for Black students and 74 percent for American Indian/Alaskan Native students.
Misbah Sadat, the newly appointed principal at Kuranui College, a high school 50 miles northeast of the capital of Wellington, began actively working to “destream” mathematics courses soon after emigrating to New Zealand in 2009 and becoming a teacher there.
As head of mathematics at a high school called Horowhenua College, she started by identifying promising Māori students on her own, moving them to higher level classes, and mentoring them, as described in a Ministry of Education newsletter.
Eventually she convinced her colleagues at Horowhenua to create mixed-ability classes rather than dividing the students. She continued the same work as deputy principal at Onslow College in suburban Wellington, where she worked before her new appointment.
The streaming practice comes from a patronizing mindset, said Sadat, who was also a math teacher in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Schools are telling parents that their children might be lost and overwhelmed in a more rigorous class. In actuality, “We have demoted some students to learn crap,” she said. “And then we are saying that at age 16, ‘You are dumb at maths.’ How dare we decide what a young person is capable of or not capable of?”
Students at Kaiapoi North School in suburban Christchurch, New Zealand, work through a multiplication problem in chalk on the playground blacktop. Credit: Becki Moss for The Hechinger Report
Both of New Zealand’s unions for elementary and secondary teachers signed onto the pledge to end streaming by 2030. In a newsletter to members, the elementary teachers union noted that its members have noticed “a sense of ingrained hopelessness that comes with being in the ‘cabbage’ classes.”
But in the same newsletter, another teacher said educators struggle with the mix of abilities in one classroom, along with managing behavior challenges.
David Pomeroy, a senior lecturer in education at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, is studying schools that have committed to reducing their reliance on streaming.
It’s a difficult task, he said. So many teachers are accustomed to the practice, since they went through it in school themselves. Parents of students in high-level classes are worried their children will be shortchanged. Teachers also say that it is easier to work with students who are all roughly on the same skill level.
And then there is an emotional connection to the practice, Pomeroy said. Unlike in the United States, lower-level mathematics classes are often taught by teachers who have a lot of classroom experience and who express real fondness for their students, he said. Pushing students too hard is seen as setting them up for repeated failure, which teachers were reluctant to do.
Abby Zonneveld’s bulletin board at St. Clair School in Dunedin, New Zealand, asked students to describe their “tūrangawaewae,” or place where they feel a special connection. Credit: Becki Moss for The Hechinger Report
“Even if they accepted streaming wasn’t the right next step, they wanted to protect them from anything that could damage their confidence,” Pomeroy said.
For schools that have made a commitment to reducing or ending streaming, he said, one useful tool has been to bring mathematics teachers in different schools together so they can work through challenges, such as lesson planning, and share successes.
The research into the benefits or harms of academic tracking or streaming show mixed results. In 2016, a group of researchers compiled all the best U.S-based research on ability grouping and acceleration at that point, going back for a century. They found certain kinds of ability grouping, such as placing highly gifted students together, was a benefit to those students. But grouping students in high- or low-performing classes did not show any benefit or detriment for students.
The New Zealand Initiative, a right-of-center think tank, said that the country should conduct its own research on the effects of streaming in the country, rather than relying primarily on research done elsewhere and on qualitative reports that primarily capture feelings about the practice. “Research suggests that lowerstream students are often taught less engaging content by less experienced teachers. So, it may not be streaming itself that increases gaps in achievement but streaming done poorly,” the initiative said in a report.
But the efforts to reduce streaming voluntarily seem to be catching on.
When looking at all academic subjects, not just mathematics, principals on a 2022 PISA survey said 67 percent of students in New Zealand are grouped by ability into different classes for at least some subjects. That’s a drop from 2015, when 90 percent of principals reported that students were grouped into different classes in their schools.
The change is welcome, said Waretini-Beaumont, who works on social media for Tokona te Raki. Streaming “has more impact than just cutting off some opportunities and stopping someone from doing calculus,” she said. “Our grandparents have been streamed and they don’t know it was even a thing. They just thought they were dumb.”
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.
RANDOLPH, Vt. — The thermostat was turned low in the admissions office at Vermont State University on a cold winter morning.
It’s “one of our efficiencies,” quipped David Bergh, the institution’s president, who works in the same building.
Bergh was joking. But he was referring to something decidedly serious: the public university system’s struggle to reduce a deficit so deep, it threatened to permanently shutter several campuses after dramatic drop-offs in enrollment and revenue.
While much attention has been focused on how enrollment declines are putting private, nonprofit colleges out of business at an accelerating rate — at least 17 of them in 2024 — public universities and colleges are facing their own existential crises.
State institutions nationwide are being merged and campuses shut down, many of them in places where there is already comparatively little access to higher education.
David Bergh, president of the newly consolidated Vermont State University, in the building where he works at the VTSU campus in Randolph. “Public institutions are not exempt from the challenges” facing higher education, Bergh says. Credit: Oliver Parini for The Hechinger Report
“Public institutions are not exempt from the challenges” facing higher education, Bergh said. “We are already seeing it, and we’re going to see more of it, and it’s particularly acute in some more rural states, where there’s a real need to balance limited resources but maintain access for students.”
Vermont is a case study for this, and an example of how political and other realities make it so hard for public universities and colleges to adapt to the problems confronting them.
“The demographics of fewer traditional-age college students, the over-building of these campuses, the change in the demand for what we need for our workforce in terms of programs — this is something that’s happening everywhere,” said Vermont State Rep. Lynn Dickinson, who chairs the Vermont State Colleges System Board of Trustees.
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Public university and college mergers have already happened in Pennsylvania, Georgia, California and Minnesota, and public campuses have closed in Ohio and Wisconsin. A merger of public universities and community colleges in New Hampshire is under study.
When state university and college campuses close, the repercussions for communities around them can be dire.
Until this month, local students had a college “in their backyard,” said Thomas Nelson, county executive in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, where the two-year Fox Cities outpost of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh this spring will become the sixth public campus in that state to be shuttered since 2023, after a long enrollment slide. “We’ve had this institution for 60 years in our community, and now it’s gone.”
Not only students are affected. In many rural counties, “there really isn’t a lot beyond the university,” Nelson said. “So that’s going to be devastating for the economy. It’s going to kill jobs. It’s going to be one more strike against them when they are competing with other communities with more amenities.”
Attempts to close these campuses attract the intervention of politicians, who have more control over whether public than private nonprofit colleges in their districts close. After all, “they own the place,” said Dan Greenstein, former chancellor of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education, who — after that state’s enrollment fell by nearly one-fifth — led a reconfiguration that resulted in six previously separate public universities there being merged into two systems.
Even trying to rename a public university can have political consequences. When Augusta State University in Georgia was combined with Georgia Health Sciences University to become Georgia Regents University, there was a local outcry over the fact that “Augusta” was no longer in the name. Within two years, the merged school had yet another new name: Augusta University.
“Public institutions are complex structures,” said Ricardo Azziz, who led that consolidation, served as president of the resulting institution and now heads the Center for Higher Education Mergers and Acquisitions at the Foundation for Research and Education Excellence. “They’re influenced by politics. They’re influenced by elected officials.”
When the proposal to close campuses in Vermont was met with public and political resistance, state planners backed down and decided instead to merge them, laying off staff and cutting programs. That did not go well, either, and resulted in raucous public meetings, votes of “no confidence,” plans that were announced and then rescinded and a revolving door of presidents and chancellors. Only now, in its second year, has the process gotten smoother.
Alarm bells started sounding about problems in Vermont’s state universities before the Covid-19 pandemic. With the nation’s third-oldest median age, after Maine and New Hampshire, according to the Census Bureau, the state had already seen its number of young people graduating from high school fall by 25 percent over the previous decade.
Enrollment at the public four-year and community college campuses — not including the flagship University of Vermont, which is separate — was down by more than 11 percent. A fifth of the rooms in the dorms were empty. And with the birthrate in the state lower than it was before the Civil War, there was no rebound in sight.
These trends have contributed to the closings of six of Vermont’s in-person undergraduate private, nonprofit colleges and universities since 2016.
“We’d be keeping our head in the sand if we didn’t think that those same forces were going to affect our public higher education system,” said Jeb Spaulding, who, as chancellor at the time, merged two of Vermont’s five state colleges, in Johnson and Lyndon, in 2018.
The red ink continued to flow. Two years later, just after Covid hit, Spaulding recommended that three of the five public campuses be shut down altogether — Johnson and Lyndon, plus Vermont Technical College in Randolph.
“What we needed to do was save the Vermont State Colleges System as a whole,” which has 145 buildings for fewer than 5,000 students, Spaulding recalled. That same problem of excess capacity is affecting higher education nationwide.
“It was well known that we had too much bricks and mortar for the number of traditional-type students that were going to be available in Vermont,” Spaulding said. “We saw all that coming, and we had started a process of educating people and working on what would be a realistic public-sector consolidation plan so that we could actually put our resources into having a smaller constellation, but well financed and up to date.”
The reaction to the plan was explosive, even in the midst of a pandemic. At socially distanced drive-by protests, critics brandished signs that said: “Start Saving: Fire Jeb.” Within four days, the proposal to close campuses was withdrawn. A week after that, Spaulding resigned.
“I guess I didn’t realize that in the public realm, you can’t make the kind of difficult decisions that if you were at a private institution you would have to make,” he recounted. “When the politics got involved, then it became clear to me that there was no way that I was going to be able to get that through.”
Instead of closing the campuses, the state decided to combine them with the other two, in Castleton and Williston, all under one umbrella renamed Vermont State University, or VTSU. In exchange, the blended institutions would be required to cut spending to help reduce a deficit estimated at the time to be about $22 million.
That decision was almost as contentious. As in Georgia, even the name was controversial. Alumni petitioned in vain for the new system to be called Castleton University instead of Vermont State, to preserve the legacy of the state’s oldest and the nation’s 18th-longest-operating higher education institution, founded in 1787, instead of demoting it to “Castleton Campus.”
Beth Mauch, who as chancellor has overseen VTSU and Vermont’s community college campuses since January, said she gets this kind of sentiment. “There are community members who have had these institutions in their community. There are folks who are alumni of these institutions who remember them in a certain way,” said Mauch. “Really, they are in the fabric of a community.”
Beth Mauch, chancellor of the Vermont State University system and the state’s community college campuses. “Really, they are in the fabric of a community,” Mauch says. Credit: Oliver Parini for The Hechinger Report
That close relationship between the universities and their communities only resulted in additional friction when 23 full-time faculty positions were cut, out of the then-existing 208. So were an equal number of administrators and staff. Not only were there more beds and buildings than were needed for the number of students, there were too many faculty compared to other comparably sized universities, a planning document said.
Neighbors of the campuses, and their elected representatives, didn’t see it that way.
“The people that work at the colleges are local. Everyone knows people that work at these colleges,” said Billie Neathawk, a librarian at what was formerly Castleton University for more than 25 years, and a union officer. “They’re related to people. Especially in a small state like Vermont, everybody knows everybody.”
The layoffs went through anyway. There were also cuts to majors. Ten academic programs were eliminated, 10 others changed locations and still others were consolidated. That meant students at any campus could take the remaining courses in a format combining in-person and online instruction that the system dubbed “In-Person Plus.”
Lilly Hudson is a junior at Vermont State University, whose consolidation means some programs are being offered online. Hudson prefers learning in a classroom but liked being able to take a class online from another campus that wasn’t available on hers. Credit: Oliver Parini for The Hechinger Report
Lilly Hudson, a junior at Castleton, said she prefers learning in a classroom. “It’s just such a difference to be able to see people and meet your professors and go in person,” said Hudson, who is majoring in early education. But she was also able to take a class online from another campus that wasn’t available on hers.
That can be an underappreciated upside to mergers, said Greenstein, now managing director of higher education practice at the consulting firm Baker Tilly. “You can only run as many programs, majors and minors as you can enroll students into,” he said. But by merging institutions and letting students take courses from other campuses online, “now they can go from 20 programs to 80 or 90.”
While that seemed a step forward, the consolidated university’s inaugural president, Parwinder Grewal, next announced that, to cut costs, its libraries would go all-digital and give away their books, the Randolph campus would no longer field intercollegiate sports teams, and athletics on the Johnson campus would move from the NCAA to the less prestigious U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association.
This proved another blunder in a state so fond of its libraries that it has the nation’s highest per-capita number of library visits, and where rural communities rally around even Division 3 athletics. Faculty and staff unions and student government associations on every campus voted “no confidence” in the university’s administration. Athletes transferred away. Grewal was loudly booed when he met with students.
“There was a hot streak there where, every email, we were, like, now what’s going on?” said Raymonda Parchment, a student who was halfway toward her bachelor’s degree at the time.
Raymonda Parchment, who just graduated from Vermont State University, is grateful that a plan to close some public campuses was reversed. “If you can’t afford to go out of state for college, and you can’t afford to pay for maybe a dorm for a couple of years, where does that leave you if there’s no school within commuting distance?” she asks. Credit: Oliver Parini for The Hechinger Report
The library and athletics decisions were eventually reversed, too, and Grewal was out before he’d served a full year. But the damage was done. When the new university finally debuted, at the start of the 2023-24 school year, freshman enrollment was down by about 14 percent from what it had been at the separate campuses the year before.
“I know a lot of friends whose programs were consolidated and shuffled around,” said Parchment, in an otherwise empty study room on the snow-covered Johnson campus. “That was probably the biggest change for students that had direct impact on them. Some people’s programs don’t exist anymore. Some people’s programs have been moved to a different campus.”
Vermont is still working out the kinks, said Bergh, the system’s current president, who was the president of private, nonprofit Cazenovia College in New York when it closed in 2023.
Although first-year enrollment went up about 14 percent this fall, he said, “We’re still surfacing places where our systems aren’t talking to each other as well as they should be, and that we need to correct.”
Parchment likes that it’s easier now to move from one campus in the system to another, without having to go through the red tape of the transfer process. She graduated at the end of the fall semester after moving from Castleton to Johnson to be closer to an internship.
And no campuses were ultimately closed, as had been proposed — a relief to students, prospective students and community members, Parchment said. “Because if you can’t afford to go out of state for college, and you can’t afford to pay for maybe a dorm for a couple of years, where does that leave you if there’s no school within commuting distance?”
Hudson, the Castleton student, whose father is a sixth-generation farrier — a specialist in trimming, cleaning and shoeing horses’ hooves — agreed.
The campuses are “in the middle of an area where there’s a lot of rural towns,” she said. Keeping them in operation means that students nearby who want to go to college “don’t have to pick up their lives and move.”
But Spaulding, the former chancellor, warned that public higher education budget and enrollment problems aren’t likely to subside, in Vermont or many other states.
“I don’t think the storm is over by any stretch of the imagination.”
The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn't mean it's free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.
Every year, EducationDynamics welcomes marketing, enrollment, admissions, and higher education leaders from across the nation for InsightsEDU—a higher education conference dedicated to uncovering emerging trends and innovative solutions that help colleges and universities enhance reputation and grow revenue. In 2025, InsightsEDU will be hosted in New Orleans, Louisiana at the Ritz Carlton from February 12-14, 2025.
With 40+ subject matter experts, and 38+ sessions, InsightsEDU is designed to equip attendees with the knowledge, tools, and strategies necessary to successfully engage the Modern Learner. Discover key benefits you will experience by attending InsightsEDU 2025.
Benefits of Attending a Higher Education Conference like InsightsEDU
1. Gain Timely Insights into the Modern Learner
There is no doubt that higher education is undergoing a shift. The Modern Learner, who increasingly values flexibility, personalization, and cost-effectiveness, is driving much of this transformation. This year’s conference theme, “The Era of the Modern Learner,” reflects this pivotal moment in education.
InsightsEDU will help higher education marketers adapt strategies to meet the needs of these students, by equipping them with practical insights on how Modern Learners interact with enrollment teams, make decisions, and engage with content. Understanding these dynamics will allow higher ed professionals to tailor marketing and enrollment strategies to better address the demands of today’s students, while demonstrating value and personalization.
2. Network with Fellow Institutional Leaders, Experts, and Professionals Nationwide
InsightsEDU is more than a learning opportunity; it is also an unparalleled networking opportunity for the higher education community. With over 100 colleges and universities represented, InsightsEDU brings together a diverse group of higher education professionals, including institutional leaders, marketers, admissions professionals, and experts from across the nation and even abroad.
Throughout the conference, attendees will experience everything from informative sessions and panels to networking events infused with New Orleans’ flair. These interactions will provide attendees with opportunities to build lasting connections with fellow professionals who share a commitment to advancing higher education initiatives. Additionally, attendees will be able to participate in discussion forums and stay connected to professional connections through the conference app, allowing attendees to stay engaged even after the conference ends.
3. Access Tailored Strategies for All Student Demographics
InsightsEDU is dedicated to helping professionals connect with today’s diverse student populations through targeted, practical strategies. For traditional students, attendees will explore ways to create personalized outreach and recruitment campaigns that highlight flexibility and value. Sessions focused on online students will uncover data-driven marketing methods and innovative enrollment strategies that address their desire for convenience and personalization. For graduate students, attendees will explore strategies that leverage career-focused messaging and a clear return on investment for advanced degrees.
Attendees will leave InsightsEDU equipped with powerful, actionable strategies tailored to the unique needs of various student demographics—empowering them to drive success and lead in a changing higher education landscape.
4. Experience Expert-Led Sessions Focused on Real-World Solutions
At InsightsEDU, attendees will engage with a stellar line-up of speakers covering the latest trends and challenges in higher education. Our conference agenda features 38+ sessions from industry experts, each with unique and data-backed perspectives on topics such as personalized digital marketing, enrollment management, and student success. With expert perspectives from organizations like Google, Meta, Reddit, EY Parthenon and more, attendees will learn how to apply the latest trends and technologies to enhance their approach. Additionally, attendees will gain exclusive insights to groundbreaking tools and data, including the latest Online College Students Report, giving them a first look at critical insights into today’s students.
Unlock the Future of Higher Education at InsightsEDU 2025
InsightsEDU 2025 is the must-attend conference for higher education professionals who are committed to staying ahead of the curve and driving impact within education. Don’t miss the opportunity to be a part of this innovative event, designed to provide you with strategies and insights for success in higher education.
We look forward to seeing you at InsightsEDU from February 12-14! Register today and secure your spot.
Meet the thought leaders shaping the future of higher education at InsightsEDU 2025! Taking place from February 12-14, 2025 in New Orleans, LA, this conference brings together expert voices in higher education marketing, enrollment management, and leadership to discuss the evolution of today’s Modern Learner. This year, explore the future of higher education in 38+ sessions, where our speakers will share their vast expertise and unique perspectives. From higher education leaders to enrollment professionals, these speakers are vital to the InsightsEDU experience and are ready to equip you with insights to thrive in a new era of learning.
The lineup of featured speakers for InsightsEDU 2025 is still growing—stay tuned for exciting new announcements! Below are the confirmed featured speakers as of November 7, 2024.
Gregory Clayton
President of Enrollment Management Services at EducationDynamics With over 30 years of experience in the higher education space, Greg brings valuable expertise in enrollment management and performance marketing. As President of Enrollment Management Services at EducationDynamics, he leads a comprehensive team offering agency marketing, enrollment services, strategic consulting, and research, all tailored to the higher ed sector. His leadership and career position him as a visionary strategist, equipped to offer insightful commentary on the higher education landscape and enrollment solutions. Join his session to learn more about how to better serve the Modern Learner and implement strategies that drive institutional success.
Session: The Evolving Expectations of the Modern Learner: How Institutions Can Adapt and Thrive
Wendy Colby
Vice President and Associate Provost for Boston University Virtual (BU Virtual) Throughout her career, Wendy has distinguished herself as a leader in online learning and enhancing the student experience. At BU Virtual, she focuses on delivering educational and technological excellence, positioning the program as a model of high-quality online education. Wendy’s commitment to advancing digital learning solutions ensures that students receive an exceptional learning experience. With extensive expertise in strategic leadership and global engagement, Wendy brings invaluable insights to InsightsEDU, where she will speak on best practices for collaborative strategies that optimize institutional success.
Session: Bridging the Gap: Aligning Marketing & Enrollment Management for Success
Roy Daiany
Director, Education & Careers at Google With over 15 years of experience, Roy Daiany leads Google’s national team of education advertising strategists, partnering with top universities and EdTech companies to drive growth. A champion of technology-driven marketing, Roy will share valuable insights in his upcoming session, drawing on Google’s data to highlight key areas for optimizing student outreach and exploring innovative advertising practices.
Session: Emerging Trends and Priorities for Higher Education
Brent Fitch
President of Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design Brent’s extensive career and leadership in higher education provide invaluable perspectives for InsightsEDU 2025. As President of Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, he has played an instrumental role in shaping strategies that optimize student engagement. With a proven track record in developing innovative programs that enhance faculty, employee, and student outcomes, his strategic leadership offers InsightsEDU attendees exclusive access to tried and true best practices within higher education. Learn from Brent to gain a deeper understanding of how to navigate institutional challenges and embrace new strategies for ongoing success.
Session: The Era of the Modern Learner: Redefining Higher Education
Andrew Fleischer
Head of Industry, Education at Google As Head of Industry for Education at Google, Andrew Fleischer leads a team dedicated to transforming how institutions and EdTech companies approach enrollment and brand positioning. With a background spanning strategic roles in Google’s App and Retail sectors, Andrew brings expertise in using data-driven advertising to address complex business goals. In his session at InsightsEDU 2024, Andrew will explore Google’s latest insights on the role of AI in higher education and share valuable strategies to navigate the evolving student journey.
Session: Emerging Trends and Priorities for Higher Education
Stephen Horn
Chief Marketing Officer at The College of Health Care Professions (CHCP) Stephen Horn is an award-winning marketer known for his inventive strategies that drive growth and expand market share. With a strong background in brand-building and nurturing marketing talent, Steve has a proven track record of success. As Chief Marketing Officer for CHCP in Houston, his role has been critical to program success. InsightsEDU attendees can anticipate gaining valuable insights into effective strategies for enhancing student engagement and aligning marketing with cross-functional departments.
Session: Bridging the Gap: Aligning Marketing & Enrollment Management for Success
Dr. Melik Khoury
President of Unity Environment University Gain fresh insights and practical strategies for engaging Modern Learners with Dr. Melik Khoury, a pivotal leader in higher education. As President of Unity Environmental University, Dr. Khoury prioritizes student success and has spearheaded transformative initiatives to increase enrollment and retention. His commitment to affordability, accessibility, and flexibility are paramount to the university’s enduring success. Dr. Khoury’s tenure at Unity Environmental University has established him as an innovative and adaptable leader, making him an ideal expert to address today’s new era of learning and the unique needs of Modern Learners.
Session: The Era of the Modern Learner: Redefining Higher Education
Dr. Andy Miller
Senior VP of Strategic Enrollment & Partnerships at Indiana Wesleyan University Andy Miller, PhD, brings a wealth of experience to InsightsEDU 2025. In his role as Sr. VP of Strategic Enrollment & Partnerships at Indiana Wesleyan University, Andy oversees enrollment and partnership initiatives, serving over 12,000 students. With expertise in building cross-industry partnerships and creating training pathways for adult learners to meet workforce demands, Andy is a pivotal leader in the field.
Session: Bridging the Gap: Aligning Marketing & Enrollment Management for Success
Dr. Joe Sallustio
Vice President of Industry Engagement at Ellucian & Cofounder The EdUp Experience Podcast Dr. Joe Sallustio is a leading authority within the higher ed sector, recognized for his expertise in operations, finance, and academics. With over 20 years of experience, he has led teams across various institutional functions, including marketing, enrollment, finance, and student services, equipping him with the skills to successfully navigate the modern landscape of higher education. Dr. Sallustio leverages his extensive knowledge as co-founder and host of The EdUp Experience, a podcast that explores timely topics in the higher ed industry. Join his session to learn more about innovative strategies for addressing challenges and uncovering opportunities for student success amid changing times.
Sessions: The Era of the Modern Learner: Redefining Higher Education
Katie Tomlinson
Senior Director of Analytics and Business Intelligence at EducationDynamics Prepare to unlock insights with Katie Tomlinson. As the Senior Director of Analytics and Business Intelligence, Katie expertly manages data and reporting, uncovering key trends to support EducationDynamics in delivering data-driven solutions for the higher ed community. Learn from her as she discusses findings from EducationDynamics’ latest report, where attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the evolving learning environment and the significant factors that influence Modern Learners’ educational choices.
Session: The Evolving Expectations of the Modern Learner: How Institutions Can Adapt and Thrive
Engage with the Leaders Shaping Higher Education
InsightsEDU 2025 promises to be another impactful conference, offering a forum for thought leadership, best practices, and meaningful networking among higher education professionals. This conference unites industry leaders and institutions to explore the key challenges and exciting opportunities facing the higher ed sector today. Taking place in early 2025, InsightsEDU is the perfect change to gain insights that will strengthen your institution’s foundation for the year ahead and beyond. Don’t miss out–Register today to secure your spot.
Date: February 12-14, 2025 Location: The Ritz Carlton, New Orleans
EducationDynamics’ InsightsEDU is one of the only higher education marketing and enrollment management conferences focused on the Modern Learner. Every year, InsightsEDU brings together thought leaders, decision-makers, and professionals from colleges, universities, and education-related organizations nationwide. The mission of InsightsEDU is to create a platform for the exchange of ideas, strategies, and innovations that propel higher education forward.
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The Online Learning Consortium (OLC) is a group of higher education leaders and innovators who work to advance quality digital teaching and learning experiences. OLC Innovate 2025 offers educators of all experience levels to explore, share, and advance digital and blended learning. Themed “The Rhythm of Innovation: Hitting the High Notes in Digital Education,” the conference will reimagine how today’s disruptions shape tomorrow’s classrooms.
HLC’s Annual Conference is geared towards administrators in the higher education community, including administrative professionals, faculty members, CEOs, presidents, and chancellors. Sessions, speakers, and workshops provide opportunities for institutions that seek accreditation and offer information on the latest developments, issues, and best practices in higher education. The 2025 conference will explore how colleges and universities use higher education to address evolving student and societal needs, impart workforce skills, fuel innovation, and tackle today’s most pressing challenges.
The ASU GSV Summit brings together leading thinkers in digital learning and workforce skills to create a future where everyone has equal access to opportunity. It is a community of educators, entrepreneurs, investors, and innovators in the educational technology and higher education industry who are motivated in reshaping society and education through innovation.
Date: April 23-26, 2025 Location: San Francisco, CA
NAGAP’s annual summit unites professionals engaged in every aspect of the graduate enrollment lifecycle—from admissions and recruitment to financial aid, academic affairs, and beyond. As the only professional organization dedicated exclusively to graduate enrollment management, NAGAP provides a unique platform for addressing the specific concerns and challenges faced by those in this field.
Digital University Week, hosted by Inside Higher Ed and Times Higher Education, brings together leaders in higher education’s digital transformation to explore the opportunities and challenges of a digital-first future. The event focuses on overcoming institutional silos, fostering industry collaboration, and maximizing resources while emphasizing a human-centered approach for equitable digital learning. The series offers an intimate setting for impactful conversations, sparking new ideas and building connections to reshape the future of education.
The 2025 North American Career Education Convention is regarded as the largest gathering of private career education professionals nationwide. Featuring renowned keynote speakers, expert-led sessions, and ample opportunities to connect with sector leaders, this conference attracts a diverse audience each year, fostering collaboration and innovation in postsecondary career education.
The Slate Summit, an exclusive event led by the Slate community, provides a deep dive into specific Slate topics through expert-led sessions and offers networking opportunities with like-minded peers in affinity group breakouts. This year’s Summit, tailored for admissions, student success, and advancement professionals, promises to be the most engaging and informative yet, featuring industry experts, interactive workshops, and unparalleled networking opportunities.
The eduWeb Summit is a community of higher education professionals and industry partners who are passionate about advancing their marketing, communications, and digital work. This conference gathers higher education professionals and industry partners from 16 countries and all 50 states. Attendees benefit from enhanced networking opportunities, engaging with peers and potential partners while gaining valuable insights into web and digital experiences, AI and analytics, leadership and innovation, and enrollment marketing.
UPCEA’s DT&L and SOLA+R event combines 2 conferences into 1 seamless experience. It captures all the elements of digital transformation and leadership in a holistic way—from teaching and learning to leadership and administration—preserving the salient issues for two distinct professional communities, while catalyzing dialogue across all facets of the larger field. This event is ideal for key campus leaders – presidents, provost, deans, instructional designers, faculty, and other focused on digital leadership.
UPCEA DT&L and SOLA+R 2025 Conference details have not been released at this time, but you can view last year’s event page for more information.
UNITE, powered by the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), is the nation’s leading annual gathering for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominately Black Institutions (PBIs). This influential event brings together thought leaders, change agents, and community partners to accelerate institutional transformation, address shared challenges, and celebrate achievements. Through networking, discussions, and celebration, UNITE fosters innovation within higher education and propels institutions towards a brighter future for all students.
UNCF Unite 2025 Conference details have not been released at this time, but you can view last year’s event page for more information.
HashtagHigherEd 2025
Date: TBD Location: TBD
HashtagHigherEd is a dedicated forum of professionals in higher education marketing and communications to converge, fostering the exchange of best practices amidst the complexities of a competitive and ever-evolving landscape. This dedicated forum provides a space for these professionals to collaboratively discuss effective communication, marketing, and branding strategies tailored to the unique challenges of the higher education sector.
HashtagHigherEd US 2025 Conference details have not been released at this time, but you can view last year’s event page for more information.
Date: September 28-October 1, 2025 Location: Online and Grand Rapids, Michigan
Connect with colleagues and explore the impact of digital media on higher education at the HighEdWeb Annual Conference 2025. Designed for professionals across all roles—programmers, marketers, social media experts, managers, designers, and writers—this event offers diverse track sessions, an inspiring keynote, and group discussions. Engage with a vibrant community, gain valuable insights, and address unique digital challenges faced by colleges and universities, all while expanding your network and enhancing your professional development.
Date: September 18-20, 2025 Location: Columbus, OH
The NACAC Conference 2025 will gather over 6,000 dedicated counselors in Los Angeles to exchange best practices, gain inspiration, and explore cutting-edge research in admission counseling. This event provides higher education counselors with the chance to discover innovative strategies, engage with thought leaders and peers, stay updated with the latest research, and connect with a diverse community of professionals.
The UPCEA Convergence conference explores contemporary trends and emerging models within the realm of alternative credentials. This event, a collaborative effort by UPCEA and AACRAO, serves as a platform for key campus figures involved in credential innovation. This includes deans of professional education, chief online learning officers, registrars, and their respective teams. Together, they aim to delineate and refine institutional strategies concerning alternative credentials.
UPCEA Convergence 2025 conference details have not been released at this time, but you can view the 2024 event page for more information.
P3 EDU – Innovation and Public-Private Partnership in Higher Education
Date: TBD Location: TBD
P3 EDU is an invitation-only annual conference that brings together university administrators, government officials, and representatives from foundations and corporations to discuss public-private partnerships in higher education. Attendees will delve into partnership opportunities, share best practices, and address the challenges of implementing successful public-private partnerships in higher education.
P3 EDU 2025 conference details have not been released at this time, but you can view the 2024 event page for more information.
Educause Annual Conference 2025
Date: October 27-29, 2025 Location: Nashville, TN and Online
The Educause Annual Conference is the premier event for higher education technology professionals, connecting the brightest minds in the field. This global gathering brings together individuals from diverse backgrounds within the higher education industry – practitioners, researchers, and solution providers – to share ideas, develop their expertise, and discover innovative solutions to contemporary challenges.
The Educause Annual 2025 Conference details have not been released at this time, but you can view the 2024 event page for more information.
2025 AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education
Date: TBD Location: TBD
For over 30 years, the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education has offered a dynamic glimpse into the ever-evolving landscape of higher education. With a program featuring peer-reviewed content, attendees gain the strategic insights needed to elevate their marketing strategies, enhance their institutional reputation, and ensure financial strength. Beyond the wealth of sessions, the Symposium serves as a vibrant community where knowledge seamlessly transitions into actionable initiatives, making it an invaluable resource for marketers looking to shape the future of higher education, foster growth, and ensure vitality.
The 2025 AMA Symposium Conference details have not been released at this time, but you can view the 2024 event page for more information.
OLC Accelerate 2025
Date: November 17-20, 2025 Location: Orlando, FL
The OLC Accelerate conference showcases groundbreaking research and effective practices in online, blended, and digital learning. It offers a diverse range of sessions and activities designed to support administrators, designers, and educators by addressing the unique challenges and goals of the entire community. This event is a comprehensive resource for staying at the forefront of innovative practices in digital education.
The OLC Accelerate 2025 Conference details have not been released at this time, but you can view last year’s event page for more information.
UPCEA MEMS 2025
Date: TBD Location: TBD
UPCEA MEMS is a must-attend conference for education professionals who want to stay on top of the trends in higher ed marketing. Presented from a variety of perspectives, sessions elevate the conversation about today’s higher education landscape. For over 30 years, MEMS has drawn professionals from institutions of all sizes to showcase thought leadership in higher education and explore trends in adult student recruitment and retention.
UPCEA MEMS 2025 Conference details have not been released at this time, but you can view the 2024 event page for more information.
NAICU’s Annual Meeting & Advocacy Day is the premier policy and advocacy event for private, nonprofit higher education leadership, including college and university presidents, government relations personnel, and executives from state and mission-specific higher education associations. The meeting annually offers briefings on pressing policy issues affecting higher education and focuses advocacy efforts on these critical concerns.
WCET 37th Annual Meeting
Date: October 21-23, 2025 Location: Denver, CO
The WCET Annual Meeting brings together higher education professionals and practitioners to foster critical discussions, share the latest advancements in digital learning, and navigate the evolving regulatory landscape. With a registration limit of 500, the intimate and collegial setting of the WCET Annual Meeting offers unique opportunities for meaningful dialogue and insights, making it a valuable event for leaders and practitioners in digital learning.
WCET 2025 Conference details have not been released at this time, but you can view last year’s event page for more information.
2025 Engage Summit
Date: June 24-26, 2025 Location: Charlotte, NC
The Engage Summit focuses on practical applications of AI, equipping attendees to lead their institutions through AI transformation. Participants will gain insights into the modern student’s mindset—understanding their motivations, interactions, and expectations in today’s digital landscape. This event serves as a great opportunity for educational leaders to prepare their campuses for the evolving future of learning.
The 2025 Engage Summit Conference details have not been released at this time, but you can view last year’s event page for more information.
Conferences offer invaluable opportunities for higher education professionals to stay current with industry trends, discover innovative strategies, and connect with like-minded individuals. Whether you’re seeking to advance your career, enhance your skills, or simply stay informed, attending a relevant conference can be a hugely rewarding experience.
If you see any of our experts at EducationDynamics (EDDY) at one of these events, come and say hello! We’re excited about making new connections with people from all over the world who share a passion for learning more about what it means to understand, find, enroll, and retain adult, online, or non-traditional students.
We look forward to seeing you there; drop us a line if you’re attending any of the conferences above.
