This blog was kindly authored by Rachel Hewitt, Chief Executive, MillionPlus, the Association of Modern Universities
Every year, surveys like HEPI’s Student Academic Experience Survey offer a snapshot of university life. But behind the charts and statistics is a changing story about what higher education looks like, especially at modern universities. These institutions are showing that studying in 2025 rarely follows a single, conventional route.
Modern universities have long been known for their openness and ties to local communities. Now, they are also shaping a very different kind of student journey—one that does not always follow the traditional three-year residential degree. Instead, it reflects the realities of a diverse student body: people working while studying, commuting from home, caring for family, or building new careers later in life.
Beyond the “traditional” student
For many students at modern universities, higher education is less about stepping away from life for three years and more about weaving learning into a busy, complicated existence. As the Student Academic Experience Survey shows, almost half (45%) of modern university students are in paid employment—often out of necessity, not choice. Many are parents, carers, or career-changers. For these students, study isn’t a bubble; it’s one delicate strand in a web of responsibilities.
For some, this results in a very different kind of campus life: less time spent living in halls, more commuting (40% travel over 10 miles) and a stronger pull between work, family and academic priorities.
New models of participation
While financial pressures for students and wider society remain acute—38% of students who need work can’t find it, and 30% say cost-of-living concerns affect their ability to focus—modern universities are adapting their teaching and support models. Many now offer blended delivery, intensive block teaching, alongside established flexible provision such as degree apprenticeships and part-time study. These approaches allow students to earn, care, and live at home while progressing towards qualifications.
Supporting non-traditional students
This is a student population that remains deeply committed to learning. Despite all the pressures, modern university students show up, participate, and persist. Approaching a fifth of students has caring responsibilities, comfortably higher than their peers at older institutions. Some 40% report that their tutors actively encourage class discussion and help them explore personal areas of interest. They value that their feedback is accessible and constructive, helping them improve and stay on track.
While their circumstances may be more complex, their commitment to learning is strong. These students also place a high value on being heard and report a sense of belonging, often shaped by feeling that their opinions matter and that support services are there when needed. These aren’t just “nice to haves”—they’re essential in a system where so many are juggling competing demands.
Their experience may look different from the “classic” university model, but it is no less valid.
For institutions, the challenge is that this is all happening against a backdrop of unsustainable finances, with their resources being stretched increasingly thinly.
The financial strain on universities
While much of the conversation around student experience rightly focuses on individuals, universities across the sector are also under growing pressure, the reasons for which are by now well established. Modern universities typically receive less research funding and fewer philanthropic donations than many of their older counterparts, with their international student income potentially next on the chopping block if the government follows through on its proposed levy.
They also face higher staff costs, with significant increases in pensions cost (recent changes to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme which modern universities are bound to offer are estimated to cost the sector £125 million per year) and this year are facing an 11% fall in Office for Students recurrent grants, compared to 5% at pre-92s. This is coupled with recent defunding of Level 7 apprenticeships, provision into which many modern universities had put significant investment to support the skills system. Yet they educate a high proportion of students from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds, often with greater support needs.
Balancing quality education with constrained budgets is becoming increasingly unsustainable. The financial model that underpins higher education in the UK is coming apart at the seams. These universities are doing vital work—widening participation, supporting local economies, and offering first and second chances—but they’re being asked to do more with less.
The case for a new funding model
The current system is simply not fit for purpose. If modern universities are to continue serving their students effectively—and if those students are to thrive—there needs to be a shift in how higher education is funded. This could mean more targeted government support, reforms to tuition fee and maintenance structures, or increased investment in student support services. In order to maintain a world-leading higher education sector, vital to help meet the government’s stated goals, there must be a clear strategy for higher education from Westminster and Holyrood. The sector waits in hope for the government’s promised HE reform package.
Without change, inequality will be further entrenched and institutions that play a crucial role in social mobility will be immeasurably lessened. In 2025, with the support of their institutions, modern university students are doing everything they can to succeed. It’s time the system worked just as hard for them.
What does it mean to be a mindful academic? Jennifer Askey, PhD asked me about mindful practices when I was a guest on her podcast. While I went to a graduate program for creative writing where that was a focus, the mindful practices I’ve kept are simple. The one I shared with Jennifer? My favorite room spray, a ritual spritz I use just before meetings. Lavender, apple blossom, clover.
It got me thinking how just talking about mindfulness can help us be more intentional with the care we give to ourselves. And, the spaces we create for other people. Not just mindfulness for self-care. When academics are more intentional about their thoughts and actions it makes a difference for all areas of your life.
Join me and executive leadership and mindfulness coach, Dr. Jennifer Askey in this live conversation.
Bio
Dr. Jennifer Askey is an executive leadership and mindfulness coach who works with higher education leaders all over North America. She leverages assessments, mindfulness practices, and powerful coaching conversations to help her clients build the career impact they want to see. In her coaching, the client’s own journey of self-awareness comes to the forefront, so that their personal and professional decisions are rooted in their values, their awareness of their skills and assets, and their commitments to community, organization, and family.
Jennifer Askey, PhD, PCC
Jennifer is also a sought-after workshop leader and team alignment facilitator. She works with units to establish a solid connection between their success parameters and their strategic and operational tactics. Her clients appreciate her sense of humour, her dedication to their growth, and her willingness to share resources, ideas, and inspiration with them. She is currently pursuing certification in the Sustained Dialogue methodology and Next-Stage Facilitation.
Dr. Askey hasn’t always been a coach. She came to coaching first as a client in 2016, when she was seeking a career change. In her first career, she was a professor of German literature, language, and culture, specializing in young adult literature in German and comparative literature studies of Holocaust fiction. She holds a PhD in German Studies from Washington University in St Louis, is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach, a Certified Positive Intelligence Coach, and a Professional Certified Coach through ICF.
After some 21 years teaching online in the University system, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no absolute one thing that has more emphasis for student success than others, except life. I’ve tried course corrections (Navy); revisions to materials ad infinitum (at Vol. 74); communications efforts that has the FCC asking for advice; Soft Skills efforts that has made the Work Force smile; and, writing skills tactics that would make Edgar Allen Poe begin ‘raven’ over these efforts! There are many theoretical foundations for these noted items, and more. Let me say it this way: online students on the other end of the wire encounter life before they encounter educational requirements.
You might argue that this is not very applicable to helping students; until you sincerely begin to see them as they experience events in their lives. A few examples: I wonder why some students won’t communicate regularly only to find out that they are working two jobs, or have lost family, or they are afraid to ask for help (yes, even that!). I have had several military graduate students who are dealing with PTSD, and as a Navy Veteran myself, I understand how difficult it can be to open up and share such things with your “instructor.” And, some students simply struggle to balance life while achieving the educational goal of their dreams. Enter empathy.
Empathy theories1 explore how we understand and respond to the emotions and experiences of others. Researchers might refer to this last statement as phenomenological, or the lived experiences of individuals. I simply call it helping students where they are. It goes beyond the notion of being open and accessible, to being inquisitive about my students—not prying, invasive, or demanding—but a healthy dose of empathy. The type of empathy that allows your students to open themselves up to others—namely, their instructor! Sounds dangerous? Consider the alternative.
A military officer, who had served in a hostile environment, was an excellent writer, thinker, organizer, and student. At the outset of the course, I had noticed that his signature file had a photo of him in uniform. I put on the empathy hat and commented on military experiences, and opened the door for him to share his own. That’s when I heard an amazing story of loss, hurt, and fear. The reasons for all of these, I will refrain from noting, but let it suffice to say this: my empathy for him pegged the meter of not only being an instructor to him, but a listener, a sounding-board for him to open up and share what was a hinderance to him. What did this “empathy” do for him? He was able to see that the experiences of his life were not his enemy, and that his time in my class–which was highly important for him in terms of his career—included acceptable discussions of those experiences that allowed him to feel okay to share and release many things he held onto and protected. In other words, while he was struggling with all these life issues, empathy enabled me to help him in many ways to let go of the past, focus on his future plans, and enjoy the learning before him.
Often, if we as teachers would take just that extra moment to open ourselves to listen to our students, it is amazing what we can hear. And once we hear, we can become an empath to enable our students to overcome some of life’s issues that keep them from being able to hold together life, school, work, family, and other things.
You might say, “Isn’t this the job of trained counsellors?” I might counter-opine, “I suppose so, in the Professional sense. But, are we as teachers not a form of counsellor? A potential empath to listen and help as we are able with our students?” Why can’t we as teachers listen significantly more deeply to our students, and actually hear what they are saying? And when we hear their voice in a manner of calling out for help, even in the smallest way, we can empathize with those difficult life times. Stated differently, listen to hear what they are saying!
Here are a few things that I do:
I remind my students from day one…if there is anything they need help with, contact me any time of day of night, and always keep me informed of issues that impact their progress.
I tell them often that I will leave no one behind, because every student is important to me. Someone in my own past classes assisted me by listening and helping, which made an incalculable mark on my life, and I will pay that debt as long as I teach.
Not only do I use email, I offer to call, text, use semaphore, carrier pigeon, or whatever it takes to get the “Comms, 5×5”2 so we can chat and solve issues they face.
If an assignment is late and the student tells me that “the dog ate my paper”, I respond, “Well, tell me all about it!” [Proper Empathy Applied!]
I allow, after evaluation of work submitted, students to resubmit work. This is early in the semester so that they can readily see how the work is to be submitted, i.e., APA, grammar, other details. Why? Because if I wanted perfection, I might consider leaving the profession of teaching—as there are no absolute perfect outcomes in the world (my own empathy at work here).
I allow my students to give me feedback in real-time. Say what? Why do this? Because sometimes I hear frustration in the learning process, and if I allow them to tell me what’s on their minds (properly done), I can hear what I need to do to help them individually, and often, collectively. Empathy at work!
And finally, unless there is a major, serious issue at work, I let my defenses down and find humorous ways to release tension, even as I am doing 1-6 above. Another way to say this is: I don’t crush the objective of “Comms, 5×5” for the sake of getting the job done. Stated even differently: while the work is important, empathy helps me to treat my students as learners, not as “briefcase experts!”
So, when students struggle, I care as probably the vast majority of my co-teachers/professors do. But, walking that extra mile with them, for them, and applying empathy…we can make a huge difference in their lives for the rest of their lives if we but take the time to listen, hear, and be proactive FOR them! Why teach or lead or strive to move the status quo forward in the lives of people and/or a nation? We are but one end of the wire in online instruction, and lest we forget, the other end is our purpose for teaching! Therefore, let empathy—alongside your/my credentials and experiences—help our students to release their apprehension, fears, and worries about the success in our respective classes.
Lastly, while there are numerous theories of empathy, let us be the applied part of those theories. Our students will be the recipients for a lifetime!
Dr. Kenneth E. Scott, EdD, taught in the community college setting for 32 years and is now in his 21st year in the university setting. He continues to teach at Amridge University, a primarily online institution. He has been teaching online for 30 years and has a background in electrical engineering, systems design/software engineering, and business leadership and technology. He also served 11 years in the U.S. Navy.
After some 21 years teaching online in the University system, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no absolute one thing that has more emphasis for student success than others, except life. I’ve tried course corrections (Navy); revisions to materials ad infinitum (at Vol. 74); communications efforts that has the FCC asking for advice; Soft Skills efforts that has made the Work Force smile; and, writing skills tactics that would make Edgar Allen Poe begin ‘raven’ over these efforts! There are many theoretical foundations for these noted items, and more. Let me say it this way: online students on the other end of the wire encounter life before they encounter educational requirements.
You might argue that this is not very applicable to helping students; until you sincerely begin to see them as they experience events in their lives. A few examples: I wonder why some students won’t communicate regularly only to find out that they are working two jobs, or have lost family, or they are afraid to ask for help (yes, even that!). I have had several military graduate students who are dealing with PTSD, and as a Navy Veteran myself, I understand how difficult it can be to open up and share such things with your “instructor.” And, some students simply struggle to balance life while achieving the educational goal of their dreams. Enter empathy.
Empathy theories1 explore how we understand and respond to the emotions and experiences of others. Researchers might refer to this last statement as phenomenological, or the lived experiences of individuals. I simply call it helping students where they are. It goes beyond the notion of being open and accessible, to being inquisitive about my students—not prying, invasive, or demanding—but a healthy dose of empathy. The type of empathy that allows your students to open themselves up to others—namely, their instructor! Sounds dangerous? Consider the alternative.
A military officer, who had served in a hostile environment, was an excellent writer, thinker, organizer, and student. At the outset of the course, I had noticed that his signature file had a photo of him in uniform. I put on the empathy hat and commented on military experiences, and opened the door for him to share his own. That’s when I heard an amazing story of loss, hurt, and fear. The reasons for all of these, I will refrain from noting, but let it suffice to say this: my empathy for him pegged the meter of not only being an instructor to him, but a listener, a sounding-board for him to open up and share what was a hinderance to him. What did this “empathy” do for him? He was able to see that the experiences of his life were not his enemy, and that his time in my class–which was highly important for him in terms of his career—included acceptable discussions of those experiences that allowed him to feel okay to share and release many things he held onto and protected. In other words, while he was struggling with all these life issues, empathy enabled me to help him in many ways to let go of the past, focus on his future plans, and enjoy the learning before him.
Often, if we as teachers would take just that extra moment to open ourselves to listen to our students, it is amazing what we can hear. And once we hear, we can become an empath to enable our students to overcome some of life’s issues that keep them from being able to hold together life, school, work, family, and other things.
You might say, “Isn’t this the job of trained counsellors?” I might counter-opine, “I suppose so, in the Professional sense. But, are we as teachers not a form of counsellor? A potential empath to listen and help as we are able with our students?” Why can’t we as teachers listen significantly more deeply to our students, and actually hear what they are saying? And when we hear their voice in a manner of calling out for help, even in the smallest way, we can empathize with those difficult life times. Stated differently, listen to hear what they are saying!
Here are a few things that I do:
I remind my students from day one…if there is anything they need help with, contact me any time of day of night, and always keep me informed of issues that impact their progress.
I tell them often that I will leave no one behind, because every student is important to me. Someone in my own past classes assisted me by listening and helping, which made an incalculable mark on my life, and I will pay that debt as long as I teach.
Not only do I use email, I offer to call, text, use semaphore, carrier pigeon, or whatever it takes to get the “Comms, 5×5”2 so we can chat and solve issues they face.
If an assignment is late and the student tells me that “the dog ate my paper”, I respond, “Well, tell me all about it!” [Proper Empathy Applied!]
I allow, after evaluation of work submitted, students to resubmit work. This is early in the semester so that they can readily see how the work is to be submitted, i.e., APA, grammar, other details. Why? Because if I wanted perfection, I might consider leaving the profession of teaching—as there are no absolute perfect outcomes in the world (my own empathy at work here).
I allow my students to give me feedback in real-time. Say what? Why do this? Because sometimes I hear frustration in the learning process, and if I allow them to tell me what’s on their minds (properly done), I can hear what I need to do to help them individually, and often, collectively. Empathy at work!
And finally, unless there is a major, serious issue at work, I let my defenses down and find humorous ways to release tension, even as I am doing 1-6 above. Another way to say this is: I don’t crush the objective of “Comms, 5×5” for the sake of getting the job done. Stated even differently: while the work is important, empathy helps me to treat my students as learners, not as “briefcase experts!”
So, when students struggle, I care as probably the vast majority of my co-teachers/professors do. But, walking that extra mile with them, for them, and applying empathy…we can make a huge difference in their lives for the rest of their lives if we but take the time to listen, hear, and be proactive FOR them! Why teach or lead or strive to move the status quo forward in the lives of people and/or a nation? We are but one end of the wire in online instruction, and lest we forget, the other end is our purpose for teaching! Therefore, let empathy—alongside your/my credentials and experiences—help our students to release their apprehension, fears, and worries about the success in our respective classes.
Lastly, while there are numerous theories of empathy, let us be the applied part of those theories. Our students will be the recipients for a lifetime!
Dr. Kenneth E. Scott, EdD, taught in the community college setting for 32 years and is now in his 21st year in the university setting. He continues to teach at Amridge University, a primarily online institution. He has been teaching online for 30 years and has a background in electrical engineering, systems design/software engineering, and business leadership and technology. He also served 11 years in the U.S. Navy.
This HEPI guest blog was kindly authored by Cheryl Watson, VP of Education, UK at TechnologyOne.
Rising costs are now a defining feature of the student experience in the UK. What once felt like an educational ‘coming of age’ for young people is, for many, becoming a difficult balancing act between academic ambition and financial survival.
From housing and transport to food and essential tech, students today face relentless financial pressures just to participate in university life. For institutional leaders, the evidence is clear: the financial landscape is changing, and approaches to student engagement and support must change with it.
A growing financial gap in UK higher education
Financial pressures on students are not new but are growing in scale and complexity. The joint Minimum Income Standard for Students (MISS) 2024 research with HEPI and the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) at Loughborough University found that a typical full-time student living away from home needs around £244 per week to maintain a minimum standard of living. Yet, most face a significant shortfall even with part-time work and maintenance support.
One student from the recent MISS focus groups summed up the reality:
Even [like] knowing that I’m in my overdraft…I know it’s interest-free and stuff, but having to rely on it is not ideal, and I want to work to try and get out of it, but also like I can’t afford to.”
It’s a cycle, and you constantly max it out every year, and then you’re constantly working to pay it back.
This financial tightrope is increasingly common.
How student life is being redefined by cost pressures
Students are making tough choices daily between travel, food, work, and study. Financial stress is changing not just what students can afford, but also how they experience university life on a day-to-day basis.
While pressures vary, the underlying theme remains consistent: rising costs are reshaping the student experience in real-time.
The new commuter reality
Many universities still operate around the traditional student living on campus, but according to the Sutton Trust, over 50% of UK students go to university where they grew up and students from poorer backgrounds are three times more likely to commute from home.
For many, this is often because they cannot afford to live near campus. This has real academic consequences, with many students missing classes due to travel costs and disconnected timetables.
I live in Sheffield but a lot of the people in my class seem to commute and there’ll be times where like most of the class don’t turn up for a certain seminar and it’s because… it just wouldn’t make sense to pay all that money to come for an hour and a half and then just leave again.
Without more flexible, student-aware scheduling and targeted support, commuter students risk being structurally disadvantaged.
Technology isn’t optional
Access to digital tools is now essential for participation in academic life. From lecture recordings to online submissions, students are expected to stay constantly connected and equipped.
You definitely need a laptop as well because although the University library provides computers, especially during exam season, you have to book them in advance, and they’ve already been taken up.
For many, the cost of keeping up with technology adds to financial pressures, creating further barriers to participation.
Living with financial stress
Financial pressure is a constant presence for many students. Overdrafts are used regularly, part-time work is essential, and mismatches between payment schedules and bills force difficult choices.
In 2023, HEPI found that more than a quarter of universities operate food banks to support students, while rising rent costs leave little left for essentials.
The difference between first year and second year is that you have that comfort blanket of it, but by the time you get into second year, you’ve already used it, and you’ve got nothing to help you anymore.”
These aren’t one-off lapses in budgeting. They’re the result of an unsynchronised system that does not reflect the financial reality students are working within.
Missing out on student life
Financial pressures also limit participation in the social and community aspects of university life that are vital for wellbeing and development.
Especially in the SU, it’s not ideal because lots of societies will do socials there so if you can’t afford that… It might seem silly, but if you’re part of a sports society then there is some sort of expectation to go to Sports Night on a Wednesday most weeks so that obviously adds up if you’re going most weeks.
Opting out is often the only option, but it comes at a cost to confidence and connection
Why this matters for universities and policymakers
Financial stress is no longer a fringe issue in UK higher education. When 30% of students are taking on extra debt just to cover essentials, and many are skipping classes or missing out on key experiences, the impacts on retention, well-being, and academic outcomes cannot be ignored.
The disconnect between what students need and what current funding models assume continues to grow. Part-time work and family contributions are often treated as standard, despite being unrealistic for many students.
What’s next: Building an evidence base for change
If the Minimum Income Standard for Students 2024 brought much-needed clarity to the financial pressures facing undergraduates, this year’s follow-up takes that work a step further.
The upcoming report, Minimum Income Standard for Students 2025 (MISS25), focuses specifically on first-year students living in purpose-built accommodation, offering the most detailed insight yet into the cost of starting university life in the UK.
The findings are stark. Those on minimum support face a funding gap that must be filled by family or debt. The report also reveals a growing mismatch between student needs and how maintenance systems are designed, particularly for those without access to parental support.
For institutional leaders, policymakers and student advocates, we encourage you to read closely, and to consider how your planning, funding and engagement strategies can respond to what today’s students are telling us.
Click the link below to sign up for a copy of the MISS25 report when it’s ready.
TechnologyOne is a partner of HEPI. TechnologyOne is a global Software as a Service (SaaS) company. Their enterprise SaaS solution transforms business and makes life simple for universities by providing powerful, deeply integrated enterprise software that is incredibly easy to use. The company takes complete responsibility to market, sell, implement, support and run solutions for customers, which reduce time, cost and risk.
As a writer, Jo Davis is used to sharing through her online presence. In this episode of The Social Academic, we talk about her life online such as her digital portfolio. And, offline through the coloring books she designed, the Starseed Panic Pages, and journaling. What does it mean to be intentional about your digital and analog life as an academic? We talk about focus and what it can do for your brain to be on paper.
I’ve admired Jo Davis’ writing for years. I followed her on X after reading one of her movie critiques. When she shared a recent podcast appearance on the Moments that Define Us, I thought she was perfect to come on The Social Academic to talk about her life online and on paper. And, what it means to be her authentic self.
Jo Davis is a professor, author, freelance writer, film critic, artist, and a beacon of creativity. She teaches writing and rhetoric at the University of Denver.
An Idaho judge Wednesday sentenced the murderer of four University of Idaho students to life in prison without possibility of parole, various mediaoutlets reported.
Judge Steven Hippler of the state’s 4th Judicial District sentenced Bryan Kohberger to four consecutive life sentences.
Kohberger pleaded guilty June 30 to the 2022 killings of seniors Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, both 21; junior Xana Kernodle, 20; and freshman Ethan Chapin, 20. As part of Kohberger’s plea deal, prosecutors agreed to not pursue the death penalty.
Authorities said the four University of Idaho students were sleeping at an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, when Kohberger—then a criminology graduate student at nearby Washington State University—stabbed them to death. He declined to speak during his sentencing hearing, and his motive remains unknown.
This story was produced by The 19th and reprinted with permission.
On July 4, Nory Sontay Ramos stepped off a flight from San Antonio into a country she hardly recognized: Guatemala.
The summer wasn’t supposed to start this way. The 17-year-old had plans. In early June, she wrapped up 11th grade on a high note, having made the honor roll and represented her Los Angeles high school in the city finals for track. With track season over, she turned her attention to cross-country, showing up to campus for practice after the school year ended.
Everything changed when she and her mother, Estela Ramos — both undocumented — appeared at what they thought was a standard check-in visit with immigration officials on June 30.
“ICE took us to a room, and they ended up telling my mom, ‘Your case is over, so we have to take you guys with us,’” Sontay Ramos told The 19th. Over the objections of their attorney, federal agents led them away.
The next day, she and her mother were shipped to Texas. And by July 4, they were on a plane to Guatemala, a country where neither of them have lived for over a decade. On Independence Day — an occasion associated with freedom, with hope — their American dream shattered. Sontay Ramos has no idea what will become of the friends, family members and school community her deportation forced her to leave behind in Los Angeles.
A lawyer hired after she and her mother were detained said Monday that a motion to reopen the case has been filed with the Board of Immigration Appeals but provided no other information to The 19th.
A year shy of becoming a high school graduate in the United States, the teen’s life — and opportunities — completely changed in the span of five days.
“I’m confused,” Sontay Ramos said, her voice breaking. “I don’t know. I’m just really sad about everything.”
President Donald Trump campaigned for a return to office with the promise of mass deportations, characterizing undocumented immigrants as criminals and threats to women and girls. But as his administration has ramped up enforcement of his policy priority, undocumented people with no criminal backgrounds have made up the largest share of immigrants targeted. Those who are pursuing legal status through the proper channels have also become vulnerable — showing up to check-ins, like Sontay Ramos and her mother — only to be detained. These developments, recent polls reveal, have led to public disapproval of the Trump administration’s strategies.
Civil liberties and advocacy groups have raised concerns that undocumented immigrants are being removed so quickly they have been denied the right to due process. With Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act directing $150 billion more toward mass deportations, expedited removals of undocumented immigrants will almost certainly increase — and those immigrants who arrived in the United States as children like Sontay Ramos stand to get caught in the middle.
The Trump administration deported more than 93,800 people from January 20 to June 11, with ICE more than doubling its arrests compared with the same period in 2024, revealed an analysis by the Washington Post based on information from the Deportation Data Project. (The data does not reflect arrest and removal numbers from Customs and Border Protection.) Of those, 61 percent did not have criminal records and almost 90 percent were men, underscoring how relatively uncommon it is for a mother and daughter to be removed.
The Trump administration has not provided a tally of how many minors have been deported this year, but The 19th’s review of figures from the Deportation Data Project found that only about 3 percent of removals involved children. When ICE targets juveniles, the incidents often make national headlines, such as when a 9-year-old boy and his father living in Torrance, California, were detained in May and swiftly deported to Honduras. In states including Michigan, Massachusetts and New York, the detainment of teenagers, including those who are technically legal adults, have also garnered widespread media attention this year.
But when Sontay Ramos and her mother exited their Guatemala-bound flight on Friday, they weren’t met with fanfare. None of their family members in the Central American nation knew to expect them. With the help of an internet connection, they managed to contact one of Sontay Ramos’ older sisters, with whom they’re now living. The teenager isn’t sure which part of Guatemala she’s in, though she describes the area as rural.
Just six when she left Guatemala, Sontay Ramos struggles to recall what life there was like. But she remembers the emotion she felt as a small child: fear.
“I was scared because there’s gangsters here, and they tried to kill my mom,” she said. A family member involved in a gang threatened her mother, once attacking her so badly she needed to be hospitalized, she said. “My mom was scared.”
A research study exploring the root causes of immigration from Guatemala from 2012 to 2019 found violence, poverty, climate change and corruption to be among the driving factors and that many such migrants hail from rural parts of the country.
“The two major reasons, especially if we look at families, have to do with violence and drought,” said David Leblang, a coauthor of that study and politics professor at the University of Virginia. “It has been drought and then flood, hurricane and then drought that has just decreased the ability for families to put food on the table, so you see a combination of economic insecurity, but more so for families, food insecurity — because when you can’t feed your kids, that’s when families are going to pick up and they’re going to move first to more urban areas and then out of the country.”
About 11 years ago, Sontay Ramos and her mother headed by car to the United States in search of safety and opportunity. There, other family members awaited them and they hoped to be granted asylum, she said.
The transition was not easy. They left behind three of Sontay Ramos’ older siblings who did not want to come to the United States, she said. Her father remained in Guatemala, too. His death from illness shortly after she moved away was devastating.
“Unfortunately, her dad passed away at a young age, just like two weeks after her arrival to the States,” recalled Jennifer Ramos, Sontay Ramos’ 22-year-old cousin who lives in Los Angeles. “She grew up with her dad, so that also hit her at such a young age, just coming to a new country at six years old and not knowing the language here and losing her father. It was definitely hard for her.”
Getting accustomed to life in Los Angeles also wasn’t easy. Sontay Ramos and her mother are Indigenous Guatemalans, fluent in K’iche’. Few resources in their native tongue made assimilation more challenging in a city where English and Spanish are the primary languages.
Jennifer Ramos helped her little cousin learn to speak English. “She would come over, and I would help her with her homework. When she first came to the States, my younger sister was kind of her only friend in school because she didn’t know anybody and, again, the language barrier. She actually does struggle speaking Spanish.”
In time, Sontay Ramos and her mother adjusted to life in California. Her mother ultimately became a garment worker, employed as a seamstress until physical setbacks — illness and surgery — sidelined her earlier this year. Her deportation has separated her from her life partner, with whom she and her daughter shared an apartment in the Westlake District of Los Angeles, the neighborhood where an ICE raid at a Home Depot close to an elementary school in June panicked families, and days of demonstrations in nearby downtown escalated after Trump deployed 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines.
Los Angeles is a deeply blue city in a liberal state, with the nation’s highest concentration of immigrants — a place that the president has made ground zero for his immigration raids. In November, the City Council voted unanimously to make L.A. a sanctuary city, which bars it from using resources for immigration enforcement. Last week, the Trump administration filed suit, challenging the law. Meanwhile, advocacy groups including the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and Public Counsel are suing the Trump administration for what it describes as a pattern of federal violations during immigration raids in Greater Los Angeles.
Before Trump’s immigration policies roiled her neighborhood and upended her life, Sontay Ramos was indistinguishable from her peers born in the United States. She grew up on the Netflix shows “Stranger Things” and “Cobra Kai,” enjoys the music of Lana Del Rey and The Weeknd and dotes on her cat, Max, who turned one on May 15. He is black — one of her two favorite colors. In her spare time, Sontay Ramos practices taekwondo, which she’s been learning for nearly four years.
“I just liked it,” she said of the martial art. Knowing how to fight, she added, helps her feel protected.
Sontay Ramos never sensed she was in danger before the immigration check-in that would push her out of the United States.
But her cousin Jennifer Ramos worried. The night before, Ramos’ father invited the family over to have Sunday dinner with his wife and three daughters. The evening was largely festive. Her father made shrimp ceviche and was eager for his family to enjoy the tangy, citrusy dish — especially Estela Ramos, who had just celebrated her 45th birthday. But when Estela mentioned that she and her daughter had an immigration check-in scheduled, everyone fell quiet.
“We were kind of scared,” Jennifer Ramos said. “We were like, ‘Are you sure you should go?’”
Estela Ramos poses for a picture with Jennifer Ramos at her quinceanera in 2017. Credit: COURTESY OF JENNIFER RAMOS
But her aunt tried to reassure them by letting them know their lawyer said it would be fine. After all, they had shown up for previous check-ins without incident, and if they didn’t appear, immigration officials would just find them at home.
Now, Jennifer Ramos doesn’t know when she’ll see her aunt and cousin again.
“It is unfair that a young student like her has been detained,” she said. “She’s the most deserving person. This should be the least of her worries.”
Sontay Ramos couldn’t help but tear up when she described what she was looking forward to about senior year — graduation, her friends, track-and-field and cross-country.
Although excited to reunite with family members they hadn’t seen in years, she and her mother have been weeping off and on since they arrived in Guatemala.
“I was happy, but I was expecting to see them in another way,” she said of her relatives. “Not like this.”
Sleeping and eating have been tough as has the constant feeling of disorientation. She doesn’t know where she is. In K’iche’, she asked her mother for the name of the town they’re in, but it didn’t register.
She also continues to feel blindsided about why she and her mother were deported at all. She doesn’t understand how or why their case was closed.
Recent polls, particularly those conducted after the immigration raids in Los Angeles, reveal that the Trump’s administration’s immigration crackdowns may be unpopular with the majority of the public. A PBS News/NPR/Marist poll released July 1 found that just 43 percent of Americans support Trump’s tactics.
Sixty-four percent of registered voters support giving most undocumented immigrants in the United States a pathway to legal status, with 31 percent preferring deportation for most of them, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released June 26. Six months ago, only 55 percent of voters supported giving unauthorized immigrants a path to legal status, while 36 percent backed deportation.
Leblang, the politics professor, said that ultimately the economy will sway the public to take a stand on immigration.
“All of those people who are being deported, they’re consuming goods that are produced by natives,” he said. “So, what the evidence suggests is that’s going to affect native workers’ wages, so across the board, this is going to have a negative effect on the economy.”
For Manuel Guevara — a physical education teacher and coach at the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, where Sontay Ramos is enrolled as a student — immigration isn’t an economic issue but a personal one. He came to the United States at 11 months in the mid-1980s amid El Salvador’s horrific 12-year civil war, becoming a citizen as a teenager. He fears that more deportations of youth from his school are imminent. He knows some families skipped school graduations in the area due to their concerns over raids. Some are so worried they refuse to let their children attend football practice. He’s heard that other families intend to self deport.
“This is not normal,” Guevara said. “Our whole community is beyond vulnerable. A lot of their [students’] parents, sad to say, don’t know how to read and write. Their kids need to do that for them. If they’re presented with [immigration] paperwork, they might not even be able to read it because that’s not their primary language.”
Before her deportation, Nory Sontay Ramos was recognized at school for her academic and athletic achievements. Credit: COURTESY OF JENNIFER RAMOS
He can hardly believe that Sontay Ramos, whom he taught for most of her high school years, is gone.
“She was smiling, happy-go-lucky,” Guevara said. He’s astounded that she was detained and deported in less than a week. “Nory is going into her senior year, which is another thing that’s just killing me. She was going into her senior year with all this momentum.”
Guevara fondly recalled the teen’s high-pitched voice that gets even higher when she’s excited.
“You could tell when she’s coming from down the hallway, for sure,” he said. But her trademark voice is now subdued due to her deportation ordeal. Through tears, she expressed gratitude for how her teachers, classmates and other supporters have donated nearly $7,000 to her GoFundMe campaign.
“I just want to thank everybody for the support and tell them to just be safe out there and be strong no matter what’s going to happen,” she said.
If she can’t return to the United States, she will figure out how to finish her education in Guatemala, Sontay Ramos said.
Guevara is certain she has the aptitude for greatness. Her academics and extracurricular activities are just hints of what she’s capable of, he said.
“She was about to reach cruising altitude,” he said. “Some of our students are capable of reaching the clouds up there and doing some great things. And I really believe that she was on her way.”
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.
PITTSBURGH — Stephen Wells was trained in the Air Force to work on F-16 fighter jets, including critical radar, navigation and weapons systems whose proper functioning meant life or death for pilots.
Yet when he left the service and tried to apply that expertise toward an education at Pittsburgh’s Community College of Allegheny County, or CCAC, he was given just three credits toward a required class in physical education.
Wells moved forward anyway, going on to get his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees. Now he’s CCAC’s provost and involved in a citywide project to help other people transform their military and work experience into academic credit.
What’s happening in Pittsburgh is part of growing national momentum behind letting students — especially the increasing number who started but never completed a degree — cash in their life skills toward finally getting one, saving them time and money.
Colleges and universities have long purported to provide what’s known in higher education as credit for prior learning. But they have made the process so complex, slow and expensive that only about 1 in 10 students actually completes it.
Many students don’t even try, especially low-income learners who could benefit the most, according to a study by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, or CAEL.
“It drives me nuts” that this promise has historically proven so elusive, Wells said, in his college’s new Center for Education, Innovation & Training.
Stephen Wells, provost at the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh. An Air Force veteran, Wells got only a handful of academic credits for his military experience. Now he’s part of an effort to expand that opportunity for other students. Credit: Nancy Andrews for The Hechinger Report
That appears to be changing. Nearly half of institutions surveyed last year by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, or AACRAO, said they have added more ways for students to receive these credits — electricians, for example, who can apply some of their training toward academic courses in electrical engineering, and daycare workers who can use their experience to earn degrees in teaching.
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The reason universities and colleges are doing this is simple: Nearly 38 million working-age Americans have spent some time in college but never finished, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Getting at least some of them to come back has become essential to these higher education institutions at a time when changing demographics mean that the number of 18-year-old high school graduates is falling.
“When higher education institutions are fat and happy, nobody looks for these things. Only when those traditional pipelines dry up do we start looking for other potential populations,” said Jeffrey Harmon, vice provost for strategic initiatives and institutional effectiveness at Thomas Edison State University in New Jersey, which has long given adult learners credit for the skills they bring.
Being able to get credit for prior learning is a huge potential recruiting tool. Eighty-four percent of adults who are leaning toward going back to college say it would have “a strong influence” on their decision, according to research by CAEL, the Strada Education Foundation and Hanover Research. (Strada is among the funders of The Hechinger Report, which produced this story.)
The Center for Education, Innovation & Training at the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh. The college is part of a citywide effort to give academic credit for older students’ life experiences. Credit: Nancy Andrews for The Hechinger Report
When Melissa DiMatteo, 38, decided to get an associate degree at CCAC to go further in her job, she got six credits for her previous training in Microsoft Office and her work experience as everything from a receptionist to a supervisor. That spared her from having to take two required courses in computer information and technology and — since she’s going to school part time and taking one course per semester — saved her a year.
“Taking those classes would have been a complete waste of my time,” DiMatteo said. “These are things that I do every day. I supervise other people and train them on how to do this work.”
On average, students who get credit for prior learning save between $1,500 and $10,200 apiece and nearly seven months off the time it takes to earn a bachelor’s degree, the nonprofit advocacy group Higher Learning Advocates calculates. The likelihood that they will graduate is 17 percent higher, the organization finds.
Justin Hand dropped out of college because of the cost, and became a largely self-taught information technology manager before he decided to go back and get an associate and then a bachelor’s degree so he could move up in his career.
He got 15 credits — a full semester’s worth — through a program at the University of Memphis for which he wrote essays to prove he had already mastered software development, database management, computer networking and other skills.
“These were all the things I do on a daily basis,” said Hand, of Memphis, who is 50 and married, with a teenage son. “And I didn’t want to have to prolong college any more than I needed to.”
Meanwhile, employers and policymakers are pushing colleges to speed up the output of graduates with skills required in the workforce, including by giving more students credit for their prior learning. And online behemoths Western Governors University and Southern New Hampshire University, with which brick-and-mortar colleges compete, are way ahead of them in conferring credit for past experience.
“They’ve mastered this and used it as a marketing tool,” said Kristen Vanselow, assistant vice president of innovative education and partnerships at Florida Gulf Coast University, which has expanded its awarding of credit for prior learning. “More traditional higher education institutions have been slower to adapt.”
It’s also gotten easier to evaluate how skills that someone learns in life equate to academic courses or programs. This has traditionally required students to submit portfolios, take tests or write essays, as Hand did, and faculty to subjectively and individually assess them.
Now some institutions, states, systems and independent companies are standardizing this work or using artificial intelligence to do it. The growth of certifications from professional organizations such as Amazon Web Services and the Computing Technology Industry Association, or CompTIA, has helped, too.
“You literally punch [an industry certification] into our database and it tells you what credit you can get,” said Philip Giarraffa, executive director of articulation and academic pathways at Miami Dade College. “When I started here, that could take anywhere from two weeks to three months.”
Data provided by Miami Dade shows it has septupled the number of credits for prior learning awarded since 2020, from 1,197 then to 7,805 last year.
“These are students that most likely would have looked elsewhere, whether to the [online] University of Phoenix or University of Maryland Global [Campus]” or other big competitors, Giarraffa said.
Fifteen percent of undergraduates enrolled in higher education full time and 40 percent enrolled part time are 25 or older, federal data show — including people who delayed college to serve in the military, volunteer or do other work that could translate into academic credit.
“Nobody wants to sit in a class where they already have all this knowledge,” Giarraffa said.
At Thomas Edison, police academy graduates qualify for up to 30 credits toward associate degrees. Carpenters who have completed apprenticeships can get as many as 74 credits in subjects including math, management and safety training. Bachelor’s degrees are often a prerequisite for promotion for people in professions such as these, or who hope to start their own companies.
The University of Memphis works with FedEx, headquartered nearby, to give employees with supervisory training academic credit they can use toward a degree in organizational leadership, helping them move up in the company.
The University of North Carolina System last year launched its Military Equivalency System, which lets active-duty and former military service members find out almost instantly, before applying for admission, if their training could be used for academic credit. That had previously required contacting admissions offices, registrars or department chairs.
Among the reasons for this reform was that so many of these prospective students — and the federal education benefits they get — were ending up at out-of-state universities, the UNC System’s strategic plan notes.
“We’re trying to change that,” said Kathie Sidner, the system’s director of workforce and partnerships. It’s not only for the sake of enrollment and revenue, Sidner said. “From a workforce standpoint, these individuals have tremendous skill sets and we want to retain them as opposed to them moving somewhere else.”
California’s community colleges are also expanding their credit for prior learning programs as part of a plan to increase the proportion of the population with educations beyond high school.
“How many people do you know who say, ‘College isn’t for me?’ ” asked Sam Lee, senior advisor to the system’s chancellor for credit for prior learning. “It makes a huge difference when you say to them that what they’ve been doing is equivalent to college coursework already.”
In Pittsburgh, the Regional Upskilling Alliance — of which CCAC is a part — is connecting job centers, community groups, businesses and educational institutions to create comprehensive education and employment records so more workers can get credit for skills they already have.
That can provide a big push, “especially if you’re talking about parents who think, ‘I’ll never be able to go to school,’ ” said Sabrina Saunders Mosby, president and CEO of the nonprofit Vibrant Pittsburgh, a coalition of business and civic leaders involved in the effort.
“Our members are companies that need talent,” Mosby said.
There’s one group that has historically pushed back against awarding credit for prior learning: university and college faculty concerned it might affect enrollment in their courses or unconvinced that training provided elsewhere is of comparable quality. Institutions have worried about the loss of revenue from awarding credits for which students would otherwise have had to pay.
That also appears to be changing, as universities leverage credit for prior learning to recruit more students and keep them enrolled for longer, resulting in more revenue — not less.
“That monetary factor was something of a myth,” said Beth Doyle, chief of strategy at CAEL.
Faculty have increasingly come around, too. That’s sometimes because they like having experienced students in their classrooms, Florida Gulf Coast’s Vanselow said.
Still, while many recognize it as a recruiting incentive, most public universities and colleges have had to be ordered to confer more credits for prior learning by legislatures or governing boards. Private, nonprofit colleges remain stubbornly less likely to give it.
More than two-thirds charge a fee for evaluating whether other kinds of learning can be transformed into academic credit, an expense that isn’t covered by financial aid. Roughly one in 12 charge the same as it would cost to take the course for which the credits are awarded.
Debra Roach, vice president for workforce development at the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh. The college is working on giving academic credit to students for their military, work and other life experience. Credit: Nancy Andrews for The Hechinger Report
There are other confounding roadblocks and seemingly self-defeating policies. CCAC runs a noncredit program to train paramedics, for example, but won’t give people who complete it credits toward its for-credit nursing degree. Many leave and go across town to a private university that will. The college is working on fixing this, said Debra Roach, its vice president of workforce development.
It’s important to see this from the students’ point of view, said Tracy Robinson, executive director of the University of Memphis Center for Regional Economic Enrichment.
“Credit for prior learning is a way for us to say, ‘We want you back. We value what you’ve been doing since you’ve been gone,’ ” Robinson said. “And that is a total game changer.”
Contact writer Jon Marcus at 212-678-7556, [email protected]orjpm.82 on Signal.
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.
Student loan debt in the United States has ballooned into a $1.7 trillion crisis, affecting over 43 million borrowers.Beyond the staggering figures, this debt exacts a profound human cost, influencing personal relationships, family dynamics, and long-term financial stability.
Student debt doesn’t just affect individual borrowers; it reverberates across generations.Parents and grandparents often co-sign loans or take on debt themselves to support their children’s education.The TIAA and MIT AgeLab study revealed that 43% of parents and grandparents who took out loans for their children or grandchildren plan to increase retirement savings once the student loan is paid off. This shift in financial priorities underscores the long-term impact of educational debt on family financial planning.
The student loan crisis is more than a financial issue; it’s a pervasive force affecting the fabric of American life.From delayed life milestones and strained family relationships to mental health challenges and economic repercussions, the impact is profound and far-reaching.Addressing this crisis requires comprehensive policy reforms that consider the human stories behind the debt figures.Only then can we hope to alleviate the burden and restore financial freedom to millions of Americans.
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The student loan crisis is more than a financial issue; it’s a pervasive force affecting the fabric of American life.From delayed life milestones and strained family relationships to mental health challenges and economic repercussions, the impact is profound and far-reaching.
We want to hear from you.If you or someone you know is grappling with the weight of student debt, please consider sharing your story.Your experiences can shed light on the real-world implications of this crisis and help others understand they’re not alone.
To share your story, please email us at [email protected]with the subject line “Student Debt Story.”Include your name, location, and a brief summary of your experience.We may feature your story in an upcoming article to highlight the human toll of student debt.
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