higher ed

Pointed questions, impatient follow-ups and testy retorts rang through the Supreme Court Wednesday as the future of affirmative action in college admissions was debated with intensity.

For the second time since 2012, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the Fisher v. University of Texas case on Wednesday. The case targets a race-conscious admissions program at the University of Texas.

Harvard University is investigating after law school students there found that portraits of some African American faculty members were defaced. This comes as students throughout the country protest incidents of racism on their campuses.

Boston-based startup Gradifi is asking employers to help their employees pay back their students loans, and some firms are responding. More than a hundred businesses have lined up for a chance to help their workers pay down their crushing debt.

The University of Missouri is in the spotlight this week for mishandling racial unrest that has paralyzed the campus, and some local students see the Missouri movement as just the opening salvo in civil unrest on American campuses.

Marty Meehan will be formally installed as the 27th President of the University of Massachusetts on Thursday. The former congressman and University of Massachusetts Lowell Chancellor will present his vision for the university’s future during his inauguration ceremony at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.

More than half of all community college students need to take developmental courses in math or English before starting their two-year degrees. So some schools are trying something different to prevent these students from dropping out.

For many of the hundreds of thousands of students attending community college in the United States, focusing solely on school is not an option. According to the results of a WGBH News polls, 70 percent of students enrolled in community college are also working - many of them full-time. In response, community colleges are trying to provide the right support for working students who struggle to stay afloat.

Community colleges have long operated in the shadows of more expensive, elite four-year colleges, but worries about the cost of college are now drawing students to these two-year programs. A new survey by WGBH News shows Americans believe strongly that community colleges are essential to providing families with opportunities.

A senior at Georgetown University reflects on Pope Francis' visit to the U.S. and what the pope's message of mercy and forgiveness means for the oldest Catholic university in the country.