Staff Picks

"A new report finds that tuition and fees at community college baccalaureate (CCB) programs are considerably less than for bachelor’s degree programs at a public four-year institution — in some states, less than half — and that a larger percentage of students in CCB programs receive student aid. The new research by Elizabeth Meza, a senior research scientist at the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington, is a first-time analysis of the affordability of CCBs compared to associate degrees and public universities. She examined 15 states, analyzing their tuition and fees, total cost of attendance (published tuition and required fees, book and supplies, and living costs, like housing) and net price compared to public four-year institutions using federal IPEDS data and institutional sources." MLH

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"After sitting through too many grant panels at NSF, I can tell you this: most proposals get 15-20 minutes of discussion time in a panel that's reviewing 30-50 proposals over three days. Your carefully crafted 15-page research plan? The primary reviewer read it thoroughly. The other two panelists skimmed it. Everyone else glanced at the summary. This isn't because reviewers are lazy. They're exhausted, brilliant researchers who are reading proposals outside their immediate expertise, often late at night, while also worrying about their own grants, their trainees, and the paper referee statements that they owe. The storyboard approach works because it acknowledges this reality: reviewers are looking for a straightforward narrative they can grasp quickly and defend to the panel." GMS

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"With almost 5 million residents and several towns and cities, greater Phoenix is looking to solve several of its challenges on a regional basis, given how closely connected many of those places are. Traffic congestion, housing affordability, heat mitigation and urban planning are just some of the challenges that could benefit from a more collaborative approach. And the area of Arizona, led by The Connective, its smart region consortium, is looking to technology to help with that. In partnership with CyberCity 3D, a leading producer of 3D city models, the region will roll out a multi-jurisdictional digital twin to visualize, test and optimize urban development virtually before committing resources to physical implementation." MLH

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"Drought, of course, isn't the only climate-driven disaster hitting places like Clyde. Hurricanes, floods, and fires are bankrupting cities across America. After flames ripped through Paradise, California, in 2018, the town's redevelopment agency defaulted on some of its obligations. Naples, Florida, resorted to selling $11 million in bonds to rebuild its pier after Hurricane Ian in 2022. Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power had a harder time raising money after massive fires swept the city. Kerr County, Texas, is in the midst of raising taxes after devastating floods in July.  Each episode underscores how climate shocks once seen as exceptional are now straining local budgets. But drought may be the most insidious of these threats. Compared to other types of disasters, it often hits everyone in a community, affects large areas, and can last months, if not years. There are also fewer defenses and relatively limited government assistance. Experts worry that drought could ultimately prove an enormous risk to the $4 trillion municipal bond market that underwrites everything from roads and schools to the water running through millions of taps." MLH

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"Recent federal workforce reductions raise questions about potential broader labor market implications. Federal employees — which total about 3 million workers nationwide — represent a relatively small fraction of total U.S. employment (1.8 percent of the total U.S. workforce). Because of this, government layoffs are unlikely to generate significant macroeconomic effects. However, they may create substantial regional labor market disruptions in areas with high concentrations of government workers. Understanding these localized impacts requires examining the spillover effects that occur when changes in one sector ripple through the broader regional economy." MLH

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Cate Institute survey of economists identifies some of the challenges resulting from government equity in private firms. (gms)

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"A new study conducted by economist Kate Reinmuth with the Stanford Office of Technology Licensing finds that inventors publish more academic papers, not fewer, after commercialization." JC

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"The latest Varying Degrees, New America’s annual survey that examines perspectives of U.S. higher education, finds that a majority of Americans support increasing state higher education funding. Even though Americans are frustrated with the status quo of higher education, they still believe that postsecondary credentials offer a positive return on investment and want to see these opportunities become more affordable. Public colleges and universities remain where most students access higher education—40 percent of college students were enrolled at a public four-year institution, and 31 percent were enrolled in a public two-year institution, during the spring 2025 term." MLH

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"Many businesses need access to capital when they are launching or at some point in their lifespan, but the type varies. For companies with high-growth, high-risk concepts that need time to be developed, investments from venture capital (VC) firms can be a viable option. As President and CEO of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), Bobby Franklin leads efforts to create public policies that foster innovation and drive economic growth. The NVCA provides venture capital data, practical education, peer-led initiatives, and networking." MLH

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"Large, selective colleges enroll the greatest share of international students. But they’re not the institutions feeling enrollment drops so far this fall, early data shows." MLH

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"On Sept. 26, state officials selected New Haven as Connecticut’s first “Innovation Cluster,” a $50.5 million investment that will support a range of new infrastructure and resources for the quantum and biotech sectors — centered, in part, around the expertise of Connecticut’s research universities, including Yale."

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"ual enrollment is on the rise. These programs, which allow high school students to take college classes, have existed for seven decades. But in recent years, the number of participants has skyrocketed from 300,000 in the early 2000s to 2.5 million in 2022–23. As these programs grow to be an increasingly common part of the high school experience and many institutions’ enrollments, researchers are working to understand how they affect students. Previous research has indicated that dual-enrollment participants attend college immediately after high school at higher rates than their peers. And when broken down by race, Black and Hispanic students are more likely to get a bachelor’s in four years if they participated in dual-enrollment programs, though dual enrollees on the whole are not significantly more likely to finish in four years. Two reports from this year offer more insights. Researchers examined where dual enrollees applied and were admitted to college and what kind of scholarships and grants they received in their first year. Both studies found more positive outcomes for students who had completed dual-enrollment courses—a win for proponents of these programs." MLH

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[Lilly] launched an AI platform that startups can use while keeping their data private, an initiative it claims will help young drugmakers while training its own models. Called TuneLab, the platform incorporates data Lilly’s obtained developing “hundreds of thousands of unique molecules.” Biotechs can access these datasets and the AI models trained on them using a distributed system designed to protect proprietary information. In return, Lilly can refine its AI models and use data contributed by participating companies. Lilly is trying to get creative in how it partners with young biotechs. The new platform is part of Lilly’s broader investment in early-stage life sciences under its “Catalyze360” program. Lilly also invests directly in startups through its Lilly Ventures arms, provides lab space at its Gateway Labs [ARH]

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" JobsOhio, in partnership with the Ohio Life Sciences Association (OLS) and One Columbus, today announced a biomanufacturing workforce initiative designed to train Ohioans for operator and technician roles in pharmaceutical manufacturing and related careers in biotechnology. [...] To bolster the state’s existing pipeline of highly skilled, industrious workers—and to move at the fast pace necessary to meet this increase in demand—JobsOhio plans to work with industry companies to invest up to $30 million over five years to build a new state-of-the-art training center in central Ohio. The facility will include labs, simulated clean rooms, and a classroom, and will offer expanded programming designed to prepare students for a career in pharmaceutical biomanufacturing." (DRB/LLG)

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"Companies that use artificial intelligence (AI) in their operations are more likely, so far, to retrain employees than lay them off or adjust hiring practices, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York survey of businesses in its service region. As more businesses tap AI, there's been general concern about its impact on the workforce, particularly in prompting the displacement of employees. The New York Fed's August survey of New York and northern New Jersey businesses shows that few service firms and manufacturers have laid off employees so far due to AI, but a greater number expect to do so over the next six months. Meanwhile, a large share of businesses report retraining their workers on using AI. Among businesses that use AI, more than a third of service firms and 14% of manufacturing firms say they have increased training in response to AI. And more than half of both sectors expect to increase training over the next six months." MLH

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"The European Commission has introduced a new strategy for research and technology infrastructures to give innovation and competitiveness a long-term boost. Unveiled at this year’s Research and Innovation Days in Brussels on 16-17 September, the new strategy comes at a time when global competition for talent, technology and resources has never been fiercer.  As Europe boasts some of the world’s most advanced scientific facilities, research and technology infrastructures serve as the backbone of European scientific excellence and industrial strength." MLH

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"The Education Department announced its intention Wednesday to end grant funding for minority-serving institutions, a move affecting hundreds of colleges that serve a disproportionate number of students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. The department said it would eliminate programs aimed at colleges serving large numbers of Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students, Asian American students, and Hispanic students. Also affected are grants for predominantly Black institutions and Native American-serving institutions — designations for colleges that educate a large share of Black and Native students but were not founded as historically Black colleges or tribal colleges." MLH

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"For American workers, earning a college degree has been a path to higher wages for a very long time. This path became even more economically attractive starting in the early 1980s, when the gap in average wages between college degree holders and high school degree holders began a steep rise. In 1980, a worker with a college degree earned about 39 percent more than a worker with a high school degree. By 2000, that college wage premium had doubled, to 79 percent. But in a new working paper from the San Francisco Fed, economists Leila Bengali and Robert Valletta, with former Research Associate Cindy Zhao, find that for the last 20 years, the gap in wages of college-educated and high school–educated workers hasn’t really budged. It actually declined following the Great Recession, and in 2023 it was slightly lower than its 2000 value (see Figure 1)." MLH

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"The “New Indiana Diploma” — which was signed into law in April and goes into effect for all incoming first-year students this academic year — gives students the option to earn different “seals” in addition to a basic diploma, depending on whether they plan to attend college, go straight to work or serve in the military. " -CAN

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"A FREE platform with economics and personal finance resources for classrooms and communities." Aiming to make economic and financial concepts accessible and relevant for learners at all levels, the new Federal Reserve Education website’s free offerings include ways for teachers of finance to develop professionally, plus classroom resources such as “10 favorite active-learning lessons for your personal finance class.” But you don’t need to be an educator to take advantage of the site’s clear explanations of a range of economic concepts. MLH

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