The Academy's cross-disciplinary, cross-country Commission on Opportunities After High School issued a publication outlining 10 concrete recommendations and an online resource featuring a map with more than 100 local and regional initiatives aligning resources and coordinating opportunities in school, service, and work. The publication and practices are designed to help state and local policymakers, K-12 and postsecondary education leaders, and employers help learners pursue their goals and thrive.
Enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse indicates that recent declines in humanities majors are likely to continue, as the number of students working toward a bachelor’s degree in the humanities (as their first major) fell every year from 2015 to 2025—and the rate of decline has accelerated since the COVID pandemic.
More than half of the U.S. labor force are working class, yet there is a near-absence of elected officials from working-class occupations in elected office. What are the implications for democracy and representation? How can the barriers to public service be understood and overcome? This publications offers answers these questions.
Deborah Rutter moderated a conversation with jazz pianist and jazz studies faculty Jason Moran (New England Conservatory of Music) and author and professor Viet Thanh Nguyen (University of Southern California). They discussed the challenges of producing art in the United States today and the power the arts have in helping us imagine and connect to our past, present, and future.