Tag: students

With News Decoder, students explore their role in the world

Back in 2020, during the height of the Covid epidemic, high school students in the U.S. state of Connecticut sat down with News Decoder founder Nelson Graves to explore a number of thorny topics that ranged from the death penalty to whether animals should be kept in zoos.

The students in “American Voices & Choices: Ethics in Modern Society” at Westover School had been working with News Decoder since the start of that academic year, mastering the process we call Pitch, Report, Draft and Revise — or PRDR — to identify topical issues at the intersection of ethics and public policy.

They pitched ideas they wanted to report on: teen health; police brutality; abortion; economic privilege in the environmental movement; the risks of experimental vaccines; the impact of alcohol on youth.

Later, each student received detailed feedback from a News Decoder editor, aimed at helping them narrow their research and produce original reporting.

Westover was an early News Decoder school partner. Since our founding 10 years ago, News Decoder has worked with high school and university students in 89 schools across 23 countries.

Decoding news in school

Teachers have used us as part of their course curricula, as extra credit assignments and as standalone learning opportunities for their students.

At Realgymnasium Rämibühl Zürich in Switzerland, teacher Martin Bott brings News Decoder in each year. In one weeklong workshop, students produced podcasts. Over five days, they pitched News Decoder stories about a problem they identified in their local communities, identified an expert to interview, found how that problem was relevant to people in other countries and then wrote a podcast script, revised it and recorded it. “[News Decoder] enabled me to do a few projects which really open up perspectives for the students, give them a taste of life beyond the classroom and of the world of journalism,” Bott said.

In another workshop for RGZH, News Decoder turned students into “foreign correspondents.” They were tasked with finding stories in Zurich that people in other countries would find interesting. Like the students in the podcasting workshop, they then found an expert to interview, wrote a draft and revised it with the goal of publishing it on News Decoder.

One student in the workshop noticed a demonstration of people with dogs and got up the nerve to talk to one of them. They were from an organization that rescued Spanish greyhounds and she decided it would be a good idea for a News Decoder story. The story she wrote ended up as one of News Decoder’s most-read stories of all time.

Not only have Bott’s students been able to publish stories on News Decoder, many of these stories, including the article about the greyhounds, have won awards in our twice yearly global storytelling competition.

“We’ve been delighted to get so many of those stories published on News Decoder,” Bott said. “That’s very, very motivating for the students. And it’s a wonderful learning process for them because they realise it’s not just about school rules and so on out there.”

Challenging students to do more

Bott said that working with professionals at News Decoder gets the students to step up. “When you’re a journalist, you’ve got a responsibility,” he said. “That’s something we’ve been able to talk about with journalists who’ve met us from various parts of the world through News Decoder. And you’ve got real pressure as well. And they’re not, I think they’re not quite used to that. So it really opens their eyes.”

At The Hewitt School in New York, 15 teens at the all-girls school meet once a month as a club. They read and discuss News Decoder stories and pitch their own stories. They also prepare for a cross-border webinar; each year they join with students from a News Decoder partner school in another country, and decide with those students on a topic to explore.

They then research the topic, interview experts and come together with the students from the other school to present their findings live in a video conference before an audience of people from the two schools.

In 2024, students from The Thacher School in California worked with peers at the European School of Brussels II on a webinar on consumerism and the human impacts of climate change.

Russell Spinney is faculty adviser for News Decoder at Thacher. “The webinars really were kind of ways just to get to know each other, discover that we actually do have some common interests. But not only that, that we also have problems that are similar,” he said.

“News Decoder’s workshops,” he said, “get students to think of ways to communicate their research beyond the classroom and connect with what’s going on in the world.” News Decoder has partnered schools this way in some 50 school-school webinars.

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November 26, 2025
Penn Graduate Students (GET-UP) Authorize Strike as Contract Talks Falter
Graduate student workers at Penn have overwhelmingly authorized a strike — a decisive move in their fight for fair pay, stronger benefits, and comprehensive protections. The vote reflects not only deep frustration with stalled negotiations but also the growing momentum of graduate-worker organizing nationwide.

A year of bargaining — and growing frustration

Since winning union recognition in May 2024, GET‑UP has spent over a year negotiating with Penn administrators on their first collective-bargaining agreement. Despite 35 bargaining sessions and tentative agreements on several non-economic issues, key demands — especially around compensation, benefits, and protections for international students — remain unmet.

Many observers see the strike authorization as long overdue. “After repeated delays and insulting offers, this was the only way to signal our seriousness,” said a member of the bargaining committee. Support for the strike among graduate workers is overwhelmingly strong, reflecting a shared determination to secure livable wages and protections commensurate with the vital labor they provide.

Strike authorization: a powerful tool

From Nov. 18–20, GET‑UP conducted a secret-ballot vote open to roughly 3,400 eligible graduate employees. About two-thirds voted, and 92% of votes cast authorized a strike, giving the union discretion to halt academic work at a moment’s notice.

Striking graduate workers, many of whom serve as teaching or research assistants, would withhold all academic labor — including teaching, grading, and research — until a contract with acceptable terms is reached. Penn has drafted “continuity plans” for instruction in the event of a strike, which union organizers have criticized as strikebreaking.

Demands: beyond a stipend increase

GET‑UP’s contract demands include:
- A living wage for graduate workers
- Expanded benefits: health, vision, dental, dependent coverage
- Childcare support and retirement contributions
- Protections for international and immigrant students
- Strong anti-discrimination, harassment, and inclusive-pronoun / gender-neutral restroom protections
While Penn has agreed to some non-economic protections, many critical provisions remain unresolved. The stakes are high: graduate workers form the backbone of research and teaching at the university, yet many struggle to survive on modest stipends.

Context: a national wave of UAW wins

Penn’s graduate workers are part of a broader wave of successful organizing by the United Auto Workers (UAW) and allied graduate unions. Recent years have seen UAW-affiliated graduate-worker locals achieve significant victories at institutions including Cornell, Columbia, Harvard, Northwestern, and across the University of California (UC) system.

At UC, a massive systemwide strike in 2022–2023 involving tens of thousands of Graduate Student Researchers (GSRs) and Academic Student Employees (ASEs) secured three-year contracts with major gains:
- Wage increases of 55–80% over prior levels, establishing a livable baseline salary.
- Expanded health and dependent coverage, childcare subsidies, paid family leave, and fee remission.
- Stronger protections against harassment, improved disability accommodations, and support for international student workers.
- Consolidation of bargaining units across ASEs and GSRs, strengthening long-term collective power.
These gains demonstrate that even large, resource-rich institutions can be compelled to recognize graduate labor as essential, and to provide fair compensation and protections. They also show that coordinated, determined action — including strike authorization — can yield significant, lasting change.

What’s next

With strike authorization in hand, GET‑UP holds a powerful bargaining tool. While a strike remains a last resort, the overwhelming support among members signals that the union is prepared to act decisively to secure a fair contract. The UC precedent, along with wins at other UAW graduate-worker locals, suggests that Penn could follow the same path, translating student-worker momentum into meaningful, tangible improvements.

The outcome could have major implications not just for Penn, but for graduate-worker organizing across the country — reinforcing that organized graduate labor is increasingly a central force in higher education.

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November 26, 2025
What do students need? – Campus Review

A panel of university leaders and unionists answered the question ‘What do students need?’ at a recent HEDx event.

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November 26, 2025
How IDEA sparked innovations for students with — and without — disabilities

This is part one of a two-part series on the 50th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. For part two, click here.

When Antoinette Banks’ daughter, Nevaeh, was diagnosed with intellectual disabilities in 2011, Banks was told her 5-year-old daughter would have a 0% chance of living independently as an adult.

“What I’m hearing is that my kid doesn’t have a future,” Banks says. “It broke me for a little bit.”

To fill in all the unanswered questions she had about her daughter’s future, Banks began trying to better understand the special education system she and her daughter were now a part of.

Just understanding all the processes and paperwork — individualized education programs, evaluations, assessments, procedural notices and more — got “super confusing sometimes,” says Banks, who lives in Sacramento, California.

Even after she filed all the special education documents in a three-ring binder, Banks still struggled to organize documents critical for monitoring the interventions provided by multiple teachers and therapists, as well as for tracking information from doctors and diagnosticians.

She created what she called an online “spreadsheet on steroids” to share with her daughter’s support teams. As she improved her homemade tool, she began sharing the template with other families in similar situations.

Antoinette Banks (right) stands with her daughter Nevaeh in northern California in spring 2025.

Permission granted by Lana Andruh

That prototype evolved into Expert IEP, a platform that’s now powered by artificial intelligence to help families, school districts, therapists and doctors collaborate on services for children with disabilities, Banks says.

“I thought that if I could get everyone to just communicate with one another and not be so siloed and not telling me what they think, but what does the data say about my daughter, then maybe we can get focused on what she actually needs in her learning environment,” Banks says.

Fast forward to today: Banks’ daughter is 19 years old and graduated in June from a public California high school with a general education diploma. Nevaeh is now studying biological systems engineering at a northern California college and wants to become a nanotechnologist, according to her mother.

“I feel so very, very blessed to have been able to be on this wild roller coaster ride with my daughter and continue to advocate and refine, because anything is possible,” Banks says.

The tool Banks created — which she said was born out of both frustration and necessity — is but one example of the many tools and techniques developed over the past five decades to support students with disabilities and their families and teachers.

On Nov. 29, the landmark Individuals with Disabilities Education Act turns 50. President Gerald Ford signed the legislation, originally known as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, guaranteeing students with disabilities the right to a free and appropriate public education. Before then, no federal requirement existed that schools must educate students with disabilities.

In addition to opening public schools to a whole population of children, the law became the catalyst for legions of innovative practices and tools cultivated from both public and private sources. The transformations, special education experts say, were spurred by an ongoing need to individualize student supports while helping children with disabilities progress in general education classrooms.

IDEA eligibility grows over 5 decades

Since the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act was enacted, the portion of all public school students qualifying for special education services almost doubled.

Many of these practices and technologies — such as universal design for learning, assistive technology, and positive behavioral interventions and supports — would not only be proven to help students with disabilities, but also to benefit their peers without disabilities.

Innovative and proven practices that are effective for a student with disabilities are “going to work with a student without disabilities,” says Lindsay Kubatzky, director of policy and advocacy for the National Center for Learning Disabilities.

To mark IDEA’s 50th anniversary, K-12 Dive spoke with special education experts about approaches, practices and technologies that have revolutionized how students with disabilities are supported — and how these innovations keep evolving.

In rural Oregon, K-2 students at Warrenton Grade School take part in the CAST Take Flight drone curriculum in October 2025, showcasing how universal design for learning principles enable meaningful STEM learning for even the youngest learners.

Permission granted by Carolyn Peterson

Eliminating learning barriers with UDL

Delana Robles spends her day problem solving. As the universal design for learning resource teacher in New Mexico’s Albuquerque Public Schools, Robles helps teachers make learning accessible for students who have dyslexia, hearing or vision impairments, learning disabilities or other conditions.

“UDL is a way to include every student in the classroom by looking at who they are as a learner and as a person, versus seeing them as someone with a deficit,” Robles says. If educators understand each student’s strengths and needs and how to support them, “education will improve across the board,” she says.

The UDL framework can be applied across all ages and learning environments to reduce instructional barriers through classroom design, assistive technology and engaging teaching and learning practices. These could include using text-to-speech features or large fonts, or allowing students to choose how they demonstrate their knowledge by writing a report, creating a slideshow or performing a skit, for example.

UDL got its start in 1984 when neuroscience researchers were looking for ways computers — which were just becoming more widely used for personal and professional use — could improve learning for students with disabilities. A group of five clinicians from North Shore Children’s Hospital in Salem, Massachusetts, formed the nonprofit Center for Applied Special Technology.

Lindsay Jones is the CEO of CAST.

Permission granted by Lindsay Jones

Lindsay Jones, CEO of CAST and former president and CEO of the National Center for Learning Disabilities, says one of the biggest developments in special education over the past 50 years has been the acceptance of learner variability — the idea that each student processes and demonstrates learning differently. UDL, Jones says, helps schools use technology, classroom designs and instructional practices to make learning more effective and inclusive for each student.

Jones calls UDL “future proof,” meaning demand will only grow to customize learning so as to propel student understanding, engagement and agency. “I think it’s exciting that special education has driven a lot of the research that’s impacted all of education,” she says.

A student from the California School for the Blind in Fremont, Calif., reads a book using Bookshare’s accessibility features on March 4, 2025.

Permission granted by Erick Salazar

Making reading accessible through Bookshare

Obtaining books in accessible formats for students who have low vision or are blind used to be a slow and laborious process. Schools typically had to manually request large-print or Braille editions that could take weeks or months to arrive.

In some cases, schools could track down the limited number of large-print or Braille copies that existed. Schools in rural areas faced even greater barriers to obtaining accessible books, according to historical accounts. And when obtained, these books were big and heavy for students to carry around.

Schools also relied on staff or volunteers to make audio recordings of entire books — another time-consuming process.

All this meant that students rarely got the accessible content in time to participate in learning along with their peers, and that delay impacted their learning outcomes.

But as technology evolved, and as the 1997 reauthorization of IDEA required schools to consider assistive technology for every student with disabilities, schools became more equipped to serve students who had difficulty processing or comprehending printed words.

One tool that opened access to learning for students with disabilities is Bookshare. The free repository of titles allows students to customize how they see or hear text on a screen and to physically manage how to flip pages on reading devices.

It’s the world’s largest library of audio and ebooks — with 1.4 million titles, according to the organization. And access is free for qualifying U.S. students in public, private and home schooling because it is supported through grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs. In fiscal year 2025, OSEP awarded $9 million to Bookshare.

Part of Benetech, a nonprofit software organization focused on improving accessibility, Bookshare is the largest distributor of accessible textbooks in America. It operates through the National Instructional Materials Access Center, a federally funded, searchable online repository of source files for K-12 instructional materials that was created through the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA.

For schools, this means educators can request an accessible book for anyone from an early elementary school student who is struggling with decoding, to a high schooler who is blind and studying for Advanced Placement exams. Bookshare is also free for qualifying students in postsecondary, graduate, vocational and continuing education classes.

Ayan Kishore, Benetech CEO, says giving pre-K-12 students access to Bookshare materials helps put them on a pathway for postsecondary success and beyond.

Ayan Kishore is CEO of Benetech.

Permission granted by Benetech

“Bookshare started because we zoomed into a huge challenge. There are many challenges, but one challenge is accessibility,” he says. “The books that are used in a classroom are just simply not accessible for someone who is blind or dyslexic or has other sorts of disabilities.”

Guidance issued by the Education Department in January 2024 urges schools to consider an array of assistive technologies for students with disabilities. These include text-to-speech software, word prediction devices to help with writing and communication, augmentative and alternative communication devices, and visual schedules and timers. Low tech tools, such as pencil grips and modified scissors are also encouraged to remove barriers to learning.

I think it’s exciting that special education has driven a lot of the research that’s impacted all of education.

Lindsay Jones

CEO of CAST

Rebecca Thomas, a coach at New Mexico UDL, a state-funded grant program, helps teachers remove barriers to learning. Bookshare, assistive technology and UDL approaches are helping drive student engagement and close learning gaps through accessible tools, she says.

Supporting teachers in their jobs is also core to New Mexico UDL’s mission. “We love finding new tools that will help take things off teachers’ plates,” Thomas says.

Kishore says Bookshare keeps evolving. Several years ago that meant adding accessible STEM content. Now in development is Bookshare Plus, which aims to use AI to make any educational content — such as classroom handouts and worksheets — accessible.

Nonetheless, the future of Bookshare, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, is tenuous. President Donald Trump’s FY 2026 request would cut all funding for the Education Department’s Education Technology, Media, and Materials for Individuals with Disabilities program under IDEA, which provides accessibility technology and services for students with disabilities. Rather, the proposed budget recommends states use Part B grants to set their own priorities for special education spending.

Earlier this month, after a prolonged federal government budget impasse and shutdown, Congress agreed to a continuing resolution to fund the Education Department through Jan. 30, 2026, at fiscal year 2025 funding levels.

A student at Kershaw County School in South Carolina uses an augmentative and alternative communication device during teletherapy speech and language intervention in 2020.

Permission granted by Kathryn Boyd-Batstone

Addressing student needs through teletherapy

When Missouri’s Carthage Intermediate Center’s only speech-language pathologist moved away in 2023, the grade 4-5 school in the Carthage R-9 School District struggled to find a replacement who could support students whose IEPs required speech and language interventions.

Then, the next year, the center’s two feeder elementary schools lost their speech-language pathologists, too. The void — which couldn’t easily be filled because of a shortage of these specialists in the area — led the three schools to use teletherapy to supplement their services, says Susan Hatcher, assistant principal of Carthage Intermediate Center.

During online asynchronous sessions, a remote speech-language pathologist works 1-to-1 or with small groups of students on their communication skills while an in-person paraprofessional keeps them on task.

“We’ve got lots of examples of where kids have just really done well with this particular service and have really made some great growth,” says Hatcher.

Teletherapy, which began in the medical field, has allowed school districts, particularly in rural areas, to provide student services in the face of significant shortages of special education and related service providers.

Exact numbers are difficult to pin down on how many schools or students are taking this route. But several teletherapy platforms, including Presence, eLuma and Parallel Learning are working directly with school districts.

Presence alone has delivered more than 7 million teletherapy sessions to partner schools since its founding in 2009, according to the company. The company works with about 10,000 public, charter, private and virtual schools.

Bonnie Contreras, senior director of clinical solution engineering at Presence and a former school counselor, says that while the vast majority of students do well with the virtual interaction, it is not a replacement for special education teachers and other in-person experts.

“At the end of the day, the goal is for the student to really thrive with the resources that they need to do their best,” she says.

Hatcher says the district “would have been holding out hope” to attract and hire a qualified speech-language expert. The schools might have been able to partner with neighboring districts to share a provider, she says. But in the worst case scenario, a lack of available services would have required the schools to provide compensatory services or additional interventions, which can be costly, she adds.

While more in-person speech-language pathologists would be ideal, teletherapy allows the flexibility and customization to provide services to students when and how they need them, Hatcher says. In the end, these services are “very individualized, which, of course, is very much the spirit of IDEA.”

Students from Maplewood Elementary, in Maplewood, Mo., are being recognized in April 2025, for meeting school expectations — Safe, Respectful, and Responsible — that school staff have taught and practiced with the students through their school-wide PBIS program.

Permission granted by Maplewood Elementary School

Supporting learning through PBIS

Would you punish a student for failing a math test?

That’s the question Timothy Lewis asks people when he explains how positive behavioral interventions and supports in a school can be just as vital as academic interventions and supports.

If a student failed a math test, educators might review the material, organize learning supports and monitor the student’s progress, Lewis says. But when he began working with students and young adults with challenging behaviors as a special educator in the 1980s, the common approach was to discipline students for disruptive behaviors.

Lewis, director of the University of Missouri Center for School-wide Positive Behavior Support and a professor of special education, wanted to find a way to avoid punitive approaches and increase students’ academic performances by teaching appropriate and expected behaviors.

“Here’s the key about behavior,” Lewis says. “Behavior is functionally related to the teaching environment, meaning kids do behaviors because they can predict outcomes. And if you’re a really good teacher, you set up your environment to increase the likelihood kids learn.”

Timothy Lewis is the director of the University of Missouri Center for School-wide Positive Behavior Support.

Retrieved from University of Missouri on November 21, 2025

Positive behavioral interventions and supports got their origins in the late 1980s from researchers like Lewis, along with George Sugai, Robert Horner and others at the University of Oregon. Their work on PBIS evolved from research on improving student behavior supports not just for individual students, but for entire classrooms and schools.

PBIS is built on a multi-tiered system of supports where all students gain an understanding of classroom and school expectations and appropriate social, emotional, and behavioral skills. Interventions intensify for the students who need more individualized supports.

Nearly 27,800 schools in the U.S. used PBIS in 2024, according to the Center on PBIS, a technical assistance center that began in 1998 and is funded through federal grants from OSEP and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.

PBIS practices contributed to improved attendance, teacher retention, and English and math achievement, along with reduced substance abuse and bullying, according to various research.

For instance, students with and without disabilities attending Missouri schools with universal PBIS showed better attendance, and students with disabilities spent more time in a general education classroom, than students at schools without PBIS, according to a report from the 2022-23 school year published by the Missouri Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support team. Moreover, schools with high levels of PBIS implementation over time showed more positive outcomes for both students with and without disabilities.

PBIS can also lead to cost savings. For every dollar spent on implementing PBIS schoolwide, about $105 is saved through decreased suspensions that also reduce dropout rates, according to a 2017 report published by the federal PBIS technical assistance center.

“PBIS is probably the most researched and has probably some of the best gold standard research to show its effectiveness of anything out there, and OSEP supported that,” says Larry Wexler, a longtime former director of research to practice at OSEP.

Lewis says the PBIS work, through the national center and statewide programs, keeps evolving. The PBIS framework in schools has been used to address school crisis situations, opioid addiction, mental well-being and other challenges. In terms of scope, it has been implemented in everything from a one-room K-12 school to large urban schools, he says.

“No one in education can make kids behave, nor can we make them learn. It’s all about building an environment to increase the likelihood” of learning for students with and without disabilities, Lewis says.

Visuals Editor Shaun Lucas contributed photo support to this story.

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November 25, 2025
21 Interactive Classroom Activities for College Students
How interactive are your classroom activities? Do you have less energy for class than you used to? Do you find student grades declining? And are the teaching methods you’ve always relied on not working as well as they once did? We spoke to two college instructors, Chris Merlo (Professor of Computer Science at Nassau Community College) and Monika Semma (who holds a Master’s Degree in Cultural Studies and Critical Theory from McMaster University). Their strategies for interactive classroom activities will energize your class and get the discussion moving again.

Table of contents
Why are interactive classroom activities important?

Merlo, a computer science teacher, says that interactive classroom activities are not new to students, and one main reason why teachers have trouble connecting is that they fail to adapt to their students’ perspectives. Interactive classroom activities are now widely used across different school settings, helping to engage students at all educational levels.

“My six-year-old son doesn’t find iPads amazing; to him, they’ve always just existed. Similarly, to a lot of students today, experiences like team exercises and flipped classrooms, while foreign to many instructors are not new.

“If we care about reaching today’s students, who seem to have a different idea of student responsibilities than we had, perhaps we have to reach them on their terms. Adapting teaching methods to include interactive teaching strategies can foster greater student engagement, participation, and long-term retention.

“In my thirties, I could still find a lot of similarities with my twenty-something students. But now, in my forties? Not so much. What I’ve started to realize is that it isn’t just the little things, like whether they’ve seen Ghostbusters. They haven’t. It’s the big things, like how they learn.”

Semma, a former humanities Teaching Assistant, found that the chalk-and-talk approach failed on her first day in front of a class. “It was a lot like parallel parking in front of 20 people,” she said. “I looked more like a classmate. I dropped the eraser on my face whilst trying to write my name on the board. One of my students called me ‘mom.’”

“I chalked it up to first day jitters, but that same quietness crept its way back into my classroom for the next tutorial, and the next tutorial and the next. While nearly silent in class, my students were rather vocal in the endless stream of emails that flooded my inbox. That way I knew they wanted to learn. I also knew that I had to find a way to make tutorials more engaging, such as using interactive activities to gauge the class’s knowledge and understanding.”From these experiences, Merlo and Semma now share some interactive classroom activities for students and for teachers that can turn a quiet classroom full of people unwilling to speak up to a hive of debate, making the student learning experience more collaborative for everyone. Many of these activities have been created to engage students in a fun way, and can be tailored to the specific content area or connected to today’s lesson. For example, case studies require students to analyze real-world scenarios to apply classroom concepts and foster critical thinking. Formative assessments, such as exit slips, encourage students to reflect on what they have learned today.

Energize your college classroom and get discussions flowing. Download The Best Classroom Activities for College Courses to engage and motivate students.

Assessment and evaluation

Assessment and evaluation are essential parts of the interactive classroom, helping teachers understand where students are in the learning process and how lesson plans might need to be adjusted. Instead of relying solely on traditional tests, teachers can use interactive classroom activities to assess student understanding in a fun and engaging way. For example, incorporating games, quizzes, or group discussions allows students to demonstrate their knowledge while staying actively involved in the lesson.

Teachers can also invite students to create their own assessments, such as writing practice test questions or designing a mini-quiz for their peers. This not only helps students review material but also gives them a sense of ownership over their learning. When students are involved in creating and evaluating content, they become more engaged and invested in the classroom experience. Interactive assessment methods, like peer review or collaborative games, make the learning process more dynamic and enjoyable for everyone. By weaving assessment and evaluation into interactive activities, teachers can create a classroom environment where students are motivated to participate and succeed.

6 community-building activities

1. Open-ended questions

Chris Merlo: Open-ended questions don’t take any planning. All they take is a class with at least one student who isn’t too shy. I remember a class a few semesters ago that started with nine students. Due to a couple of medical conditions and a job opportunity, three of the students had to drop the semester. The problem was that these three students were the ones I counted on to ask questions and keep the class lively! Once I was left with six introverted people, conversations during class seemed to stop.

By luck, I stumbled on something that got the students talking again. I said, “What has been the most difficult thing about [the project that was due soon]?” This opened the floodgates—students love to complain, especially about us and our demands. This one simple question led to twenty minutes of discussion involving all six students. Students share their thoughts and students discuss their perspectives with the entire class, making the activity engaging for everyone. I wasn’t even sure what a couple of these students’ voices sounded like, but once I gave them an open-ended opportunity to complain about an assignment, they were off to the races. A truly successful classroom activity.

2. What’s wrong with this example?

Chris Merlo: Students also love to find a professor’s mistakes—like me, I’m sure you’ve found this out the hard way. When I teach computer science, I will make up a program that, for instance, performs the wrong arithmetic, and have students find the bug. In a particularly quiet or disengaged class, you can incentivize students with five points on the next exam, or something similar. You can also reward the first student to find the correct answer, which encourages participation and adds a competitive element to the activity.

If you teach history, you might use flawed examples that change a key person’s name, such as “King Henry VIII (instead of King John) signed the Magna Carta in 1215,” or match a person to an incorrect event: “Gavrilo Princip is considered to have fired the first shot in the Spanish Civil War (instead of World War I).” Beam these examples on the whiteboard, and let the students’ competitiveness drive them to get the correct answer before their classmates.

3. Let students critique each other

Chris Merlo: This can go badly if you don’t set some ground rules for civility, but done well, classroom activities like this really help open up collaborative learning. One of my colleagues devised a great exercise: First, give students about half of their class time to write instructions that an imaginary robot can understand to draw a recognizable picture, like a corporate logo, without telling students what will happen later. Then assign each student’s instructions to a randomly chosen classmate, and have the classmate pretend to be the robot, attempting to follow the instructions and draw the same logo. In this fun activity, students act as robots, physically following the written instructions created by their peers.

After a few minutes, introduce a specific student who can share their results with the class, then ask their partner to share the initial instructions. This method gives students a chance to communicate with each other (“That’s not what I meant!”) and laugh and bond, while learning an important lesson.

This exercise teaches computer science students the difficulty and importance of writing clear instructions. I have seen this exercise not only teach pairs of such students meaningful lessons but encourage friendships that extended beyond my classroom.

Get students participating with these 45 classroom activities

4. Pass the “mic”

Monika Semma: As an instructor, it’s amazing how much information you can gather from a student-centered review session. Specifically, if you leave the review in the hands of your students, you can get an easy and thorough assessment of what is being absorbed, and what is being left by the wayside. The more you encourage participation, the more you’ll see where your class is struggling and the more comfortable students will become with course material. Interactive activities encourage students to communicate and share their conclusions, leading to better retention of information. During these sessions, students share their knowledge and insights with the entire class, making the review more engaging and collaborative. Here’s how to transform a standard review into one of your more popular classroom activities:
- A week before the review, ask students to email you two to five key terms or theories that they feel they need to brush up on. Take all that data and compress it until you have a solid working list of what students want to review most.
- In class, provide students with visual access to the list (I found writing all the terms on a chalkboard to be most effective). Instruct the class to have their notes out in front of them, with a pad of paper or blank Word document at their fingertips, and encourage them to take notes as the review is in progress.
- A trinket of sorts (I highly recommend a plush ball), used as a “microphone,” helps to give students equal opportunity to direct the review without putting individuals on the spot too aggressively. The rules are simple: she or he who holds the “mic” can pick one term from the list and using their notes, can offer up what they already know about the term or concept, what they are unsure of, or what they need more elaboration on.
- Actively listen to the speaker and give them some positive cues if they seem unsure; it’s okay to help them along the way, but important to step back and let this review remain student-centered. Once the speaker has said their piece, open the floor to the rest of the class for questions or additional comments. If you find that the discussion has taken a departure from the right direction, re-center the class and provide further elaboration if need be.
- Erase each term discussed from the list as you go, and have the speaker pass (or throw) on the “mic” to a fellow classmate, and keep tossing the ball around after each concept/term is discussed.
Students will have a tendency to pick the terms that they are most comfortable speaking about and those left consistently untouched will give you a clear assessment of the subjects in which your class is struggling, and where comprehension is lacking. Once your class has narrowed down the list to just a few terms, you can switch gears into a more classic review session. Bringing a bit of interaction and fun into a review can help loosen things up during exam time, when students and teachers alike are really starting to feel the pressure.

5. Use YouTube for classroom activities

Monika Semma: Do you remember the pure and utter joy you felt upon seeing your professor wheel in the giant VHS machine into class? Technology has certainly changed—but the awesome powers of visual media have not. Making your students smile can be a difficult task, but by channeling your inner Bill Nye the Science Guy you can make university learning fun again.

A large part of meaningful learning is finding interactive classroom activities that are relevant to daily life—and I can think of no technology more relevant to current students than YouTube.

A crafty YouTube search can yield a video relevant to almost anything in your curriculum and paired with an essay or academic journal, a slightly silly video can go a long way in helping your students contextualize what they are learning. For example, using videos featuring famous people can be a fun way to engage students and spark their interest in the lesson.

Even if your comedic attempts plunge into failure, at the very least, a short clip will get the class discussion ball rolling. Watch the video as a class and then break up into smaller groups to discuss it. Get your students thinking about how the clip they are shown pairs with the primary sources they’ve already read.

6. Close reading

Monika Semma: In the humanities, we all know the benefits of close reading activities—they get classroom discussion rolling and students engaging with the material and open up the floor for social and combination learners to shine. “Close reading” is a learning technique in which students are asked to conduct a detailed analysis or interpretation of a small piece of text. It is particularly effective in getting students to move away from the general and engage more with specific details or ideas. As part of close reading, you can have students identify and analyze a key vocabulary word from the text, encouraging them to focus on its meaning and usage within the written passage.

If you’re introducing new and complex material to your class, or if you feel as though your students are struggling with an equation, theory, or concept; giving them the opportunity to break it down into smaller and more concrete parts for further evaluation will help to enhance their understanding of the material as a whole.

And while this technique is often employed in the humanities, classroom activities like this can be easily transferred to any discipline. A physics student will benefit from having an opportunity to break down a complicated equation in the same way that a biology student can better understand a cell by looking at it through a microscope.In any case, evaluating what kinds of textbooks, lesson plans and pedagogy we are asking our students to connect with is always a good idea.

6 communication activities for college students

Brainwriting

Group size: 10 students (minimum)

Course type: Online (synchronous), in-person

This activity helps build rapport and respect in your classroom. After you tackle a complex lecture topic, give students time to individually reflect on their learnings. Have students write their responses to the guided prompts or open-ended questions before sharing them. Once students have gathered their thoughts, encourage them to share their views either through an online discussion thread or a conversation with peers during class time. Using exit tickets at the end of class helps teachers understand students’ learning and adjust plans accordingly.

Concept mapping

Group size: 10 students (minimum)

Course type: Online (synchronous), in-person

Collaborative concept mapping is the process of visually organizing concepts and ideas and understanding how they relate to each other. This exercise is a great way for students to look outside of their individual experiences and perspectives. Groups can use this tactic to review previous work or to help them map ideas for projects and assignments. You can also have students use concept mapping to organize key terms and concepts from a specific content area, reinforcing subject-specific vocabulary and understanding. For in-person classes, you can ask students to cover classroom walls with sticky notes and chart paper. For online classes, there are many online tools that make it simple to map out connections between ideas, like Google Docs or the digital whiteboard feature in Zoom.

Debate

Group size: Groups of 5–10 students

Course type: Online (synchronous), in-person

Propose a topic or issue to your class. Group students together (or in breakout rooms if you’re teaching remotely) according to the position they take on the specific issue. Ask the groups of students to come up with a few arguments or examples to support their position. Write each group’s statements on the virtual whiteboard and use these as a starting point for discussion. For the debate, have the students line up so each student can take turns presenting their arguments, ensuring everyone has an equal opportunity to participate. A natural next step is to debate the strengths and weaknesses of each argument, to help students improve their critical thinking and analysis skills.

Make learning active with these 45 interactive classroom activities

Compare and contrast

Group size: Groups of 5–10 students

Course type: Online (synchronous), in-person

Ask your students to focus on a specific chapter in your textbook. Then, place them in groups and ask them to make connections and identify differences between ideas that can be found in course readings and other articles and videos they may find. After the group discussions, have students share their findings with the rest of the group to encourage engagement and peer learning. This way, they can compare their ideas in small groups and learn from one another’s perspectives. In online real-time classes, instructors can use Zoom breakout rooms to put students in small groups.

Assess/diagnose/act

Group size: Groups of 5–10 students

Course type: Online (synchronous), in-person

This activity will improve students’ problem-solving skills and can help engage them in more dynamic discussions. Start by proposing a topic or controversial statement. Then follow these steps to get conversations going. In online classes, students can either raise their hands virtually or use an online discussion forum to engage with their peers.
- Assessment: What is the issue or problem at hand?
- Diagnosis: What is the root cause of this issue or problem?
- Action: How can we solve the issue?
Entry tickets

Entry tickets are a simple yet powerful way to engage students right from the beginning of class. To use entry tickets, teachers write a question or prompt related to the day’s lesson on the board as students enter the classroom. Each student writes their response on an index card, which serves as their “ticket” to participate in the lesson. This interactive learning strategy encourages students to start thinking critically about the material before the lesson even begins.

After collecting the entry tickets, teachers can invite students to share their answers with a partner, in small groups, or with the whole class. This sparks discussion, helps students connect prior knowledge to new concepts, and sets a collaborative tone for the rest of the lesson. Entry tickets can be used to review previous content, introduce new ideas, or quickly assess student understanding. By making entry tickets a regular part of your lesson plans, you create an interactive classroom environment where every student is engaged and ready to learn from the very start.

Improve interactive learning with a flipped classroom

The flipped classroom model transforms the traditional approach to teaching by having students learn foundational concepts at home and use class time for interactive activities. In this model, students watch videos, read articles, or review other materials before coming to class. Then, during class, teachers can focus on engaging students in hands-on projects, group discussions, and problem-solving exercises.

This approach allows students to learn at their own pace outside of class and come prepared to participate in more meaningful, interactive learning experiences. Teachers can organize students into small groups to discuss topics, work through challenging problems, or collaborate on projects. The flipped classroom encourages students to take an active role in their learning, promotes deeper thinking, and makes class time more engaging for everyone. By shifting the focus from passive listening to active participation, teachers can create a classroom environment where students are excited to learn and work together.

3 motivational activities for college students

Moral dilemmas

Group size: Groups of 3–7 students

Course type: Online (synchronous), in-person

Provide students with a moral or ethical dilemma, using a hypothetical situation or a real-world situation. Have students act out the moral dilemmas to explore different perspectives and deepen their understanding. Then ask them to explore potential solutions as a group. This activity encourages students to think outside the box to develop creative solutions to the problem. In online learning environments, students can use discussion threads or Zoom breakout rooms.

Conversation stations

Group size: Groups of 4–6 students

Course type: In-person

This activity exposes students’ ideas in a controlled way, prompting discussions that flow naturally. To start, share a list of discussion questions pertaining to a course reading, video or case study. Put students into groups and give them five-to-ten minutes to discuss, then have two students rotate to another group. The students who have just joined a group have an opportunity to share findings from their last discussion, before answering the second question with their new group. After another five-to-ten minutes, the students who haven’t rotated yet will join a new group, and the next student will participate in the ongoing discussion with their peers.

This or that

Group size: Groups of 5–10 students

Course type: Online (synchronous or asynchronous), in-person

This activity allows students to see where their peers stand on a variety of different topics and issues. Instructors should distribute a list of provocative statements before class, allowing students to read ahead. Then, they can ask students to indicate whether they agree, disagree or are neutral on the topic in advance, using an online discussion thread or Google Doc. In this activity, students choose their stance on each topic, which encourages active participation and ownership of their opinions. In class, use another discussion thread or live chat to have students of differing opinions share their views. After a few minutes, encourage one or two members in each group to defend their position amongst a new group of students. Ask students to repeat this process for several rounds to help familiarize themselves with a variety of standpoints.

Project-based learning

Project-based learning is a dynamic approach that puts students at the center of the learning process. In this model, students work in groups to tackle real-world projects that require them to research, problem-solve, and create something meaningful. Teachers design projects that align with learning objectives, allowing students to explore topics in depth and apply what they’ve learned in practical ways.

Throughout the project, students are engaged in interactive learning as they collaborate, share ideas, and think critically about the subject matter. Teachers act as facilitators, guiding students and providing support as needed. By the end of the project, students present their findings or products, demonstrating their understanding and creativity. Project-based learning not only helps students develop important skills like teamwork and communication, but also makes the learning process more engaging and relevant. When students are actively involved in creating and presenting their work, they become more invested in their own learning journey.

6 team-building classroom activities for college students

Snowball discussions

Group size: 2–4 students per group

Course type: Online (synchronous), in-person

Assign students a case study or worksheet to discuss with a partner, then have them share their thoughts with the larger group. Use breakout rooms in Zoom and randomly assign students in pairs with a discussion question. After a few minutes, combine rooms to form groups of four. After another five minutes, combine groups of four to become a larger group of eight—and so on until the whole class is back together again. This process ensures that the activity eventually involves the entire class, promoting participation and collaboration among all students.

Make it personal

Group size: Groups of 2–8 students

Course type: Online (synchronous), in-person

Provide students with a moral or ethical dilemma, using a hypothetical situation or a real-world situation. Then ask them to explore potential solutions as a group. This activity encourages students to think outside the box to develop creative solutions to the problem. In online learning environments, students can use discussion threads or Zoom breakout rooms. Mystery Box encourages students to guess contents based on tactile clues, fostering critical thinking and observation skills, which can be a fun and engaging addition to such activities.

After you’ve covered a topic or concept in your lecture, divide students into small discussion groups (or breakout rooms online). Using a fun way, such as having students share stories or create visual scenes, can encourage them to reflect on their personal connections to the material. Ask the groups questions like “How did this impact your prior knowledge of the topic?” or “What was your initial reaction to this source/article/fact?” to encourage students to reflect on their personal connections to the course concepts they are learning.

Philosophical chairs

Group size: 20–25 students (maximum)

Course type: In-person

A statement that has two possible responses—agree or disagree—is read out loud. Depending on whether they agree or disagree with this statement, students move to one side of the room or the other. This activity is similar to the Four Corners activity, where students move to different corners of the room based on their opinions, encouraging movement and discussion. After everyone has chosen a side, ask one or two students on each side to take turns defending their positions. This allows students to visualize where their peers’ opinions come from, relative to their own.

Get more interactive classroom activities here

Affinity mapping

Group size: Groups of 3–8 students

Course type: Online (synchronous)

Place students in small groups (or virtual breakout rooms) and pose a broad question or problem to them that is likely to result in lots of different ideas, such as “What was the greatest innovation of the 21st century?” or “How would society be different if _*__* never occurred?” Ask students to generate responses by writing ideas on pieces of paper (one idea per page), on index cards for easy sorting and organization, or in a discussion thread (if you’re teaching online). Once lots of ideas have been generated, have students begin grouping their ideas into similar categories, then label the categories and discuss why the ideas fit within them, how the categories relate to one another and so on. Jigsaw problem solving activities allow students to work in groups to solve complex problems collaboratively. This allows students to engage in higher-level thinking by analyzing ideas and organizing them in relation to one another.

Socratic seminar

Group size: 20 students (minimum)

Course type: In-person

Ask students to prepare for a discussion by reviewing a course reading or group of texts and coming up with a few higher-order discussion questions about the text. As part of their preparation, have students create written questions to bring to the seminar. In class, pose an introductory, open-ended question. From there, students continue the conversation, prompting one another to support their claims with evidence from previous course concepts or texts. There doesn’t need to be a particular order to how students speak, but they are encouraged to respectfully share the floor with their peers.

Concentric circles

Group size: 20 students (maximum)

Course type: In-person

Students sit in two circles: an inner circle and an outer circle. Each student on the inside is paired with a student on the outside; they sit facing each other. Pose a question to the whole group and have pairs discuss their responses with each other. After three-to-five minutes, have students on the outside circle move one space to the right so they are standing in front of a new person. Pose a new question, and the process is repeated, exposing students to the different perspectives of their peers.

Interactive learning tools

Interactive learning tools are a game-changer for both teachers and students, making lessons more engaging and accessible. These tools include educational software, apps, games, and online resources that support interactive learning in the classroom. Teachers can use these tools to create fun and interactive lessons, quizzes, and activities that cater to different learning styles and abilities.

For example, teachers might use online platforms to set up interactive whiteboards, host virtual labs, or facilitate discussion forums where students can share ideas and ask questions. Students can also use interactive tools to create their own content, such as videos, podcasts, or digital presentations, to show what they’ve learned. Incorporating interactive learning tools into your lesson plans not only makes learning more fun, but also encourages students to take an active role in their education. By embracing these tools, teachers can create a classroom environment where every student is engaged, motivated, and excited to learn.

Interactive classroom activities, in short

Final thoughts

Making your classes more interactive should help your students want to come to class and take part in it. Giving them a more active role will give them a sense of ownership, and this can lead to students taking more pride in their work and responsibility for their grades. Project-based learning, where students work on a project over an extended period, can cultivate critical thinking and collaboration, further enhancing their engagement.

Use these 45 classroom activities in your course to keep students engaged

The flipped classroom model, where students watch lectures or read content at home, can also free up class time for interactive activities, making learning more engaging and participatory.

A more interactive class can also make things easier for you—the more work students do in class, the less you have to do. Even two minutes of not talking can re-energize you for the rest of the class. Live polls and quizzes can also be used for instant feedback to keep students engaged during lessons. Additionally, interactive assessments, such as Top Hat’s interactive polls and quizzes, make learning fun and competitive, further enhancing student engagement.

Plus, these six methods outlined above don’t require any large-scale changes to your class prep. Set up a couple of activities in advance here and there, to support what you’ve been doing, and plan which portion of your class will feature them.

The reality remains that sometimes, students do have to be taught subject matter that is anything but exciting. That doesn’t mean that we can’t make it more enjoyable to teach or learn. Experiments and simulations, for example, provide hands-on activities that create immersive learning experiences and develop higher-order thinking skills. Hands-on projects can include activities like building models, conducting experiments, or creating art that illustrate key concepts. Improv activities help students engage in the learning process by encouraging thinking on their feet and collaboration. It may not be possible to incorporate classroom activities into every lecture, but finding some room for these approaches can go a long way in facilitating a positive learning environment.

And let’s not forget, sometimes even an educator needs a brief departure from the everyday-ordinary-sit-and-listen-to-me-lecture regimen.

Energize your college classroom and get discussions flowing. Download The Best Classroom Activities for College Courses to engage and motivate students.

Frequently asked questions

1. What are some effective interactive classroom activities for college students?
Interactive classroom activities such as think-pair-share, live polling, and group problem-solving encourage students to engage deeply with course material. These activities also promote class discussion and help instructors pose meaningful class discussion questions to spark critical thinking.

2. How do interactive classroom activities improve class discussion?
Interactive classroom activities create opportunities for students to share diverse perspectives and collaborate on ideas. When students participate actively, class discussion becomes more dynamic, and instructors can build on these moments with targeted class discussion questions to deepen understanding.

3. How can instructors use class discussion questions in interactive classroom activities?
Instructors can integrate class discussion questions into interactive classroom activities like debates, case studies, and peer reviews. This approach encourages participation, strengthens communication skills, and ensures every student contributes meaningfully to the class discussion.
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November 24, 2025
Why empowering students sets the best course for future success

Key points:

When middle school students make the leap to high school, they are expected to have a career path in mind so their classes and goals align with their future plans. That’s a tremendous ask of a teenager who is unaware of the opportunities that await them–and emerging careers that have yet to exist.

Mentors, parents, and educators spend so much time urging students to focus on their future that we do them a disservice by distracting them from their present–their passions, their interests, their hobbies. This self-discovery, combined with exposure to various career fields, fuels students’ motivation and serves as a guidebook for their professional journey.

To meet their mission of directing every student toward an individualized post-secondary plan, schools need to prioritize recognizing each student’s lifestyle goals. That way, our kids can find their best-fit career and develop greater self-awareness of their own identity.

Give students greater autonomy over their career exploration

The most problematic aspect of traditional career-readiness programs is that they’re bound so tightly to the classes in which a student excels.

For example, a high schooler on a technology track might be assigned an engineer as a mentor. However, that same student may also possess a love for writing, but because their core classes are science-based, they may never learn how to turn that passion into a career in the engineering field, whether as a UX writer, technical editor, or tech journalist.

Schools have the opportunity to help students identify their desired lifestyle, existing strengths, and possible career paths. In Aurora Public Schools in Nebraska, the district partnered with our company, Find Your Grind, an ESSA Tier 2 validated career exploration program, to guide students through a Lifestyle Assessment, enabling them to discover who they are now and who they want to become. Through this approach, teachers helped surface personalized careers, mentors, and pathway courses that aligned with students’ lifestyle goals.

Meanwhile, in Ohio, school districts launched Lifestyle Fairs, immersive, future-ready events designed to introduce students to real-world career experiences, industry mentors, and interactive learning grounded in self-discovery. Hilliard City Schools, for example, welcomed more than seventh-grade students to a Lifestyle Fair this past May.

Rather than rely on a conventional booth-style setup, Hilliard offered interactive activations that centered on 16 lifestyle archetypes, including Competitor, Explorer, Connector, and Entrepreneur. The stations allowed students to engage with various industry leaders and participate in hands-on activities, including rocket launch simulations and creative design challenges, to ignite their curiosity. Following the Fair, educators reported increased student engagement and a renewed enthusiasm for learning about potential career paths.

Create a fluidity path for future success

According to the World Economic Forum, by 2030, 97 million jobs will be displaced by AI, significantly impacting lower-wage earners and workers of color. At the same time, 170 million new jobs are expected to be created, especially in emerging fields. By providing students more freedom in their career exploration, educators can help them adapt to this ever-changing 21^st-century job market.

Now is the time for school districts to ensure all students have access to equitable career planning programs and work to close societal disparities that hinder professional opportunities. Instead of setting students on a predetermined pathway toward a particular field–which may or may not exist a decade from now–educators must equip them with future-proof and transferable core skills, including flexibility, initiative, and productivity, in addition to job-specific skills. As the job market shifts, students will be prepared to change direction, switch jobs, and pivot between careers.

In Hawaii, students are taking advantage of career exploration curriculum that aligns with 21^st-century career and technical education (CTE) frameworks. They are better prepared to complete their Personal Transition Plans, which are required for graduation by the state, and have access to micro-credentials that give them real-world experience in different industries rather than one particular field.

For decades, career planning has placed students in boxes, based on what the adults in their lives expect of them. Ensuring every child reaches their full professional potential means breaking down the barriers that have been set up around them and allowing them to be at the center of their own career journey. When students are empowered to discover who they are and where they want to be, they are excited to explore all the incredible opportunities available to them.

Nick Gross, Find Your Grind

Nick Gross is the CEO of Find Your Grind, a Gen Z-focused learning and self-discovery platform that empowers students to take charge of their futures through self-discovery and career exploration.

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November 24, 2025
DOJ targets college access for undocumented students in 6th lawsuit
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Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Justice has sued six states over laws that allow in-state tuition rates and scholarships for students regardless of their immigration status. The latest legal challenge was filed Thursday against California for its “California Dream Act.”
- The lawsuit seeks to enjoin California laws that allow state residents to receive in-state tuition regardless of immigration status. The lawsuits — also filed against Minnesota, Texas, Kentucky, Illinois and Oklahoma — could impact tuition for dual enrollment, adult education, and career and technical education training programs.
- “Federal law prohibits aliens illegally present in the United States from receiving in-state tuition benefits that are denied to out-of-state U.S. citizens,” the Justice Department said in its lawsuit, which is challenging the states under the supremacy clause. “There are no exceptions.”
Dive Insight:

The lawsuits come in light of a February executive order prohibiting federal resources for undocumented immigrants and as the U.S. Department of Education has implemented the order to restrict education-related programs.

As part of those restrictions, which were part of a coordinated effort across agencies, students could be required to undergo a citizenship and immigration status check to qualify for tuition for dual enrollment and similar early college programs for high-schoolers.

According to the Trump administration, that’s “because those programs provide individualized payments or assistance beyond that of a basic public education.”

The administration’s implementation of the executive order also restricted Head Start, the federal early childhood education program meant to level the playing field for low-income families, to “American citizens.” That policy change was successfully challenged in court in multiple lawsuits and is currently on pause in states that sued the government.

However, other program areas impacted by the Education Department’s enforcement of the order are still in effect in some places, including high school students’ eligibility for college-level and career courses.

“California is illegally discriminating against American students and families by offering exclusive tuition benefits for non-citizens,” said U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi in a Thursday statement, adding that her department “will continue bringing litigation against California until the state ceases its flagrant disregard for federal law.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, however, called the DOJ’s efforts “meritless, politically motivated lawsuits.”

“Good luck, Trump,” said Marissa Saldivar, Newsom’s spokesperson, in an email to K-12 Dive. “We’ll see you in court.”

The office maintains that its tuition exemption applies to all residents who meet the criteria, regardless of where they were born, and it is not discriminating against U.S. citizens.

Out of the states sued so far, Texas and Oklahoma have complied, with Texas suddenly ending a 24-year-old law within hours of the Justice Department filing a lawsuit in June.

Prior to the Justice Department’s lawsuits, 25 states and the District of Columbia allowed in-state tuition for undocumented students, according to the Higher Ed Immigration Portal, which tracks the issue. That number has fallen to 22 in addition to Washington, D.C.

There are an estimated 620,000 undocumented K-12 students in the United States, with most states home to thousands of such students, according to 2021 data from Fwd.us.

According to federal data, nearly 2.5 million high school students were enrolled in at least one dual enrollment course from a college or university in 2022-23.
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November 21, 2025
DOJ sues California over in-state tuition for undocumented students
Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Department of Justice is suing California over its laws allowing certain undocumented college students to pay in-state tuition rates at public colleges and receive state-administered scholarships.
- In a Thursday court filing, the agency argued that in-state tuition rates for undocumented students illegally provide benefits not offered to all U.S. citizens and asked a federal judge to rule California’s laws unconstitutional.
- The lawsuit, which also names as defendants Gov. Gavin Newsom and the governing boards of California’s three public college systems, marks the sixth the DOJ has brought against states with in-state tuition policies for certain undocumented students.
Dive Insight:

California is home to roughly 103,000 undocumented residents enrolled in higher education — accounting for about a fifth of some 510,000 undocumented students in the U.S. — according to the Higher Ed Immigration Portal.

Since 2001, a California law known as AB 540 has allowed students to pay in-state tuition at its three public higher ed systems if they attended a state high school for at least three years and earned their high school diploma or equivalent in California. Undocumented students must also sign an affidavit saying they have either filed an application to gain legal status or plan to once they are eligible.

A 2017 law broadened that eligibility and permits students to reach the three-year attendance threshold by combining any time spent at a California high school, community college, adult school or carceral education program.

It also allows students who completed at least three years full-time high school coursework anywhere to qualify for the waiver if they attended at least three years of their K-12 education in California.

Leaders from the state’s public college systems — the University of California, California State University, and California Community Colleges — supported the expansion of the in-state tuition policy.

Both laws apply to both U.S. citizens and immigrants without legal status.

But U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a Thursday statement that policies are “illegally discriminating against American students and families” and that California is demonstrating “flagrant disregard for federal law.”

Since 1998, U.S. law has prohibited immigrants without legal status from receiving any higher education benefit based on their residency, “unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit … without regard to whether the citizen or national is such a resident.”

The agency’s lawsuit is not the first time California’s in-state tuition law has faced legal opposition. One challenge to AB 540 that similarly argued the policy violated federal law made it to the California Supreme Court in 2010.

However, the court upheld AB 540, ruling it did not violate federal law because students seeking in-state tuition status did not need to be California residents.

The DOJ argued Thursday that this decision was incorrect and that federal courts should reject it.

“Allocating lower tuition rates on the basis of high school attendance is a proxy for residence,” running afoul of federal law, the agency said.

Using the same argument, the DOJ lawsuit also targets a 2011 law permitting AB 540-eligible undocumented students to receive state-administered scholarships and aid and a law passed in 2014 establishing a student loan program for them.

Gaining an in-state tuition waiver for California can have big cost implications for prospective students, as the state’s public colleges charge some of the highest out-of-state tuition premiums in the U.S., according to the College Board.

The University of California published tuition and fees for out-of-state students who started in 2025-26 were $37,602 more a year than for their in-state counterparts.

At the University of California, Berkeley, that means out-of-state, full-time undergraduates who first enrolled this fall would pay $55,080 if they did not receive financial aid or scholarships — more than double the $17,478 their in-state counterparts would pay sans aid.

Even with aid and institutional scholarships, out-of-state students saw a stark difference. U.S. News & World Report estimated that the average total cost of attendance at UC Berkeley for those receiving need-based aid was $16,636 for in-state students and $66,625 for those from outside of California.

The Cal State system’s published tuition and fees for out-of-state are also higher than for in-state students. Its 23 campuses charge a base rate of $6,450 for in-state undergraduate tuition and fees for the 2025-26 academic year. This year, out-of-state students pay at least $444 more per credit.
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November 21, 2025
Which UK regional economies are most reliant on international students?

Join HEPI for a webinar on Thursday 11 December 2025 from 10am to 11am to discuss how universities can strengthen the student voice in governance to mark the launch of our upcoming report, Rethinking the Student Voice. Sign up now to hear our speakers explore the key questions.

This blog was kindly authored by Emma Prodromou, Global Business Expansion and Immigration Manager, the Mauve Group.

The quiet engine driving local prosperity

Across the United Kingdom, international students have quietly become a vital source of regional economic strength. Those who come to the UK to further their education go on to bolster local economies and public services.

In fact, recent research reveals that UK regions now depend on international talent to a degree few policymakers fully appreciate.

The growing economic footprint of international students

The economic impact of international students in the UK surged from £31.3 billion in 2018/19 to £41.9 billion by 2021/22. On average, every parliamentary constituency in Britain benefits by £58 million.

Some regions rely more heavily than others on this influx of global talent. In Sheffield, for example, international students contribute around £770 million annually to the city’s economy, while across Yorkshire and the Humber, that total exceeds £2.9 billion. In cities such as Leicester, Exeter, Nottingham, and Dundee, universities are among the leading exporters, accounting for up to 15% of total local exports.

These figures show how universities serve as economic anchors, especially outside the Southeast. International students contribute through tuition, housing, local spending, and by supporting jobs in retail and hospitality.

Policy pressures and looming challenges

However, this success story faces rising challenges. Recent government policy changes, including visa restrictions and caps on dependents, threaten to undermine the financial stability of regional institutions. Such measures may disproportionately impact towns where universities are at the heart of the economic life.

At the same time, course closures are accelerating — nearly a fifth in agriculture and food studies, and around 10–12% in sciences and social sciences. These cuts expose a structural issue: as universities adapt to funding pressures and shifting demand, they risk losing expertise vital to regional and national priorities.

Competing for global talent

Faced with financial uncertainty and increasing global competition, UK universities are adopting new strategies to attract international students. Many of these initiatives draw inspiration from the government’s broader Industrial Strategy.

At the University of Southampton, a £4.35 million investment was secured through the Global Talent Fund, part of a £54 million initiative by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). The aim is to recruit top global researchers to strengthen the UK’s research base and reinforce its global reputation for excellence.

Building regional innovation hubs

Other regions are leveraging academic expertise to foster innovation ecosystems. Swansea University has played a central role in developing a semiconductor cluster in South Wales. This reflects Wales’s growing profile on the global stage. In 2022, just 21% of prospective international students noted familiarity with Wales as a study destination. By 2025, that figure had more than doubled to 44%, especially in key markets such as India and the United States.

To help close skills gaps and boost innovation, Wales has opted to pass on the UK’s new 6% levy to international students. Welsh institutions are well-positioned to attract global talent, though graduates must still navigate the post-graduate visa landscape and local compliance rules when it comes to employment.

The rise of ‘dynamic pricing’ and scholarships

In an increasingly competitive global education market, British universities are also adopting more flexible pricing models to attract international students.

The University of Birmingham, Birmingham City University, and Sheffield Hallam University offer regional discounts targeted at applicants from India and Southeast Asia. Keele University automatically awards £5,000 scholarships to undergraduates who exceed entry requirements, while the University of the West of England (UWE) provides a £3,000 annual Global Success Scholarship for students who complete a set number of ambassador duties throughout the academic year.

These initiatives reflect a more entrepreneurial approach to recruitment, focused on affordability and global reach.

Education as soft power

Beyond economics, international education remains one of the UK’s most effective instruments of soft power. By attracting students from across the world, British universities build lasting global networks of alumni who go on to hold influential positions in business, government, and academia.

Amid mounting financial pressures, many universities are expanding overseas through international branch campuses, exporting British education while diversifying income. In India, institutions like York, Aberdeen, and Bristol plan local campuses, aligning with the UK–India Free Trade Agreement expected to add $34 billion in annual trade.

A delicate balance ahead

As the UK reshapes its immigration and higher education policies, it must balance fiscal restraint with global engagement. Excessive restrictions could damage universities and the regional economies that depend on international students.

International education is crucial to economic resilience, both locally and nationally, as well as to regional regeneration and global influence. As the data show, from Sheffield to Swansea, Leicester to Dundee, the UK’s prosperity is deeply intertwined with its ability to attract and retain top global talent.

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November 21, 2025
A NEST for Online Learning: Supporting Students in Virtual Education – Faculty Focus
In online nursing education, a “nest” is more than a metaphor—it is a learning environment where students feel safe, supported, and guided as they prepare to enter professional practice. Drawing on my experience as a nursing educator, I developed the NEST framework—Nurturing, Esteeming and Encouraging, Supporting with Sensitive Listening, and Trust-building—to help faculty of any discipline create virtual classrooms where can students thrive. This framework provides actionable strategies that foster engagement, confidence, and professional growth, ensuring students succeed academically while cultivating the values and skills essential not only for nursing but for any profession they pursue.

Nurturing: Creating Safety and Connection in Virtual Classrooms

Nurturing in online education involves creating conditions where students feel seen, valued, and supported. Practical strategies include:
- Personalized reminders about assignments and deadlines
- Recognition of standout work or consistent effort
- Targeted assistance during challenging weeks
- Mid-week check-ins at key points (weeks 3, 6, and near the end of the course)
- Weekly announcements that reassure students they are not navigating the course alone and invite collaboration
These intentional acts convey: you matter, I care about you and your growth, and I am here to support you. By nurturing students online, faculty shift from simply delivering content to facilitating discovery and meaningful learning, helping students internalize that professional values—like compassion, competence, collaboration, and understanding—are essential in nursing and in any career they pursue.

Esteeming and Encouraging: Recognizing Strengths Online

Esteeming affirms each student’s value, while encouragement supports their belief in their ability to meet challenges. In virtual classrooms, this can include:
- Highlighting thoughtful discussion board posts
- Sending brief messages to recognize consistent effort
- Acknowledging creative approaches to assignments
- Reframing mistakes as opportunities for growth
Esteeming and encouraging students create a learning environment that feels less like a points-based performance and more like a journey of discovery. Students flourish when they feel recognized and supported—lessons they carry into professional nursing practice and other careers, where acknowledging the efforts of colleagues and clients enhances collaboration, engagement, and overall effectiveness.

Supporting and Listening: Meeting Students Where They Are

Support in online education involves being present and responsive. Sensitive listening attends to both spoken and unspoken concerns. Many nursing students balance coursework, clinical hours, employment, and family responsibilities. Practical strategies include:
- Timely, compassionate responses to emails
- Flexibility with deadlines when life circumstances intervene
- Online opportunities for students to share experiences and reflect
- Structured activities like mid-week check-ins, collaborative discussions, and reflective journaling
These strategies model sensitive listening and support—skills students carry into nursing and other professional settings, fostering trust, collaboration, and meaningful connections with colleagues, clients, and communities.

Trust-Building: The Cornerstone of Engagement in Online Learning

Trust is essential for engagement in online learning. Students participate fully when they believe instructors are fair, consistent, and invested in their success. Trust is fostered online through:
- Clear, consistent communication
- Well-structured, predictable course design
- Timely feedback that reassures students they are supported
- Avoiding inconsistencies in messaging or directions, which can undermine trust
By demonstrating reliability and responsiveness, faculty model behaviors students can emulate in professional practice, strengthening relationships with patients and colleagues.

Carrying the NEST Forward: From Online Classroom to Professional Practice

The NEST framework extends beyond online classrooms. Students carry lessons of being nurtured, esteemed, supported, listened to, and trusted into every professional interaction. Faculty who model NEST help students internalize not just knowledge and skills, but the values that define my field of nursing practice—such as compassionate care, encouragement, support, sensitive listening, and trust—valuable principles that apply across any discipline and profession.

Students may leave the online course, but they take with them habits of mind and heart cultivated in the nest: confidence from nurturing, resilience from encouragement, empathy shaped by listening, and integrity rooted in trust. By creating an online nest where learning flourishes, faculty prepare students not only to succeed academically but to enrich the lives of those they serve—whether colleagues, clients, or communities in any professional field.

Sandra L. Daisley, MSN, RN, is a nursing educator with extensive experience in online pre-licensure programs. She is passionate about creating student-centered learning environments that foster engagement, professional growth, and the development of compassionate, competent nurses. Sandy is the creator of the NEST framework, a practical model for supporting students in virtual classrooms.
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November 21, 2025