Just in time for the start of fall semester projects, this week’s issue highlights the importance of building strong project management skills. From there, we explore why college isn’t providing the same earnings boost for low-income students as it once did, and we close with a look at rising unemployment rates among recent graduates. 

After reading today’s issue, share your thoughts about the importance of developing project management skills in the comments! 

The Importance of Project Management Skills 

From Early-Career Playbook: You Can’t Lead What You Can’t Manage | EDUCAUSE Review 

Project management is a leadership multiplier. As early-career professionals in higher education build foundational project management skills, they create meaningful opportunities for continued growth and development of their leadership skills. 

Our Thoughts

It is easy to think about digital transformation in terms of systems and tools, but transformation only works if people are aligned around the work. That is where project management becomes essential, not just as a functional role but as a core leadership capability. This EDUCAUSE piece, part of their Emerging Leaders series, highlights just how essential this skill has become. It’s especially important for early-career professionals managing cross-functional teams, complex initiatives, and tight budgets. 

The part of that article that resonated most with me is how project management supports stakeholder engagement. When people understand the goals, timeline, and their role in the process, they are more likely to show up, speak up, and stay engaged. I have seen too many projects falter not because of bad strategy or poor tools, but because communication broke down. Creating visibility into the process builds trust. It also creates a sense of shared investment, which is critical when changes affect how people teach, advise, or serve students. 

So, whether you are leading a department, rolling out a new tool, or managing a campus-wide initiative, now is the time to strengthen your project management muscles. This is not about certification for the sake of it. It is about equipping yourself and your teams with the tools to lead more effectively, communicate more clearly, and deliver more consistently. That is the kind of leadership higher education needs right now.  

Reduced College Boost 

From College gives lower-income students less of a boost than it once did. Why? | Higher Ed Dive 

A recent working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that lower-income students get less of an income boost from college today than prior generations.  

Our Thoughts

The National Bureau of Economic Research paper makes some important observations. The idea that institutional choice and major selection have a large impact on long-term earnings is not new, but the analysis here adds some sharp clarity. It confirms what many of us already suspected. Low-income students are less likely to attend research universities or enter high-paying fields, and that reality shapes their economic outcomes more than changes in access or tuition costs. The study traces this shift back to 1960, highlighting how the institutions that serve lower-income students have been systematically underfunded, and how structural barriers have steered students away from high-return fields. 

These are important insights, but they arrive at a time when the environment is growing more hostile to the very interventions we need to close this gap. The recent Department of Justice memo declaring many diversity, equity, and inclusion practices unlawful only adds to the challenge. If institutions can’t legally prioritize support for students from underrepresented or economically disadvantaged backgrounds, whether through advising, outreach, recruitment, or culturally responsive programming, it creates a real challenge. Without that support, it becomes significantly harder to steer those students toward higher-value pathways. The DOJ’s stance effectively pulls the rug out from under strategies that could help correct the very problems this study identifies. 

There may be other factors at play too. Many students choose a nearby regional public or community college not because they underestimate the long-term earnings potential of other options, but because proximity to home, family responsibilities, or immediate cost concerns outweigh abstract returns. Suggesting that they should simply choose different institutions or more lucrative majors overlooks the tradeoffs they are managing. Improving outcomes for low-income students will require more than just better advising. It will take structural investment in the institutions that serve them, along with policy changes that address the full picture of affordability, access, and support. 

This is a moment when we need to be honest about the limits of our current systems. Telling students that college is worth it without acknowledging the uneven distribution of opportunity within higher education risks further eroding trust. However, giving up on the promise of upward mobility is not the answer either. The better path forward is to ask how we can build systems that make good on that promise for everyone, and not just for those who start at the top. 

Rising Unemployment for Recent Grads  

From Bleak Job Landscape for Today’s Degree Holders | Inside Higher Ed 

A new report from the Burning Glass Institute discusses the factors impacting employment trends for recent graduates. 

Our Thoughts

I appreciate this report from the Burning Glass Institute bringing more visibility to the experience of students after graduation. However, while I believe internships and work-based learning are absolutely valuable, they are not a full substitute for a first job. The transition from student to employee is not just about skills. It is about learning how to navigate a workplace, communicate with teams, handle real deadlines, and make decisions with real consequences. Those lessons are not always transferable from a short-term internship, especially when so many internships remain unpaid or are limited to students who already have financial flexibility. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, only 53 percent of internships are paid, and Black and Latinx students are significantly underrepresented in the pool of paid opportunities. 

That raises the question: if everyone wants experience but fewer employers are willing to provide it, where are these experienced workers supposed to come from? Pushing the responsibility entirely onto colleges to produce “job-ready” graduates by age 22 does not solve the structural problem. Yes, we should help students develop marketable skills, and yes, we should continue expanding experiential learning. But we should also be honest about the limitations of what higher education can deliver without strong partnerships and realistic expectations from employers. 

What worries me most is not just that the job market is tough for young graduates, but that we are normalizing this as the new status quo. Higher education is already facing declining public perception, with many questioning the value of a degree. Reports like this, while well-intentioned, can reinforce that skepticism unless we also point out that the labor market itself has changed in ways that make entry-level success harder to achieve. This is not just a higher ed problem. It is a workforce systems problem, and it will take coordination between campuses, employers, and policymakers to fix.   

If we continue to treat early-career workers as a luxury rather than an investment, we should not be surprised when fewer students see college as a path to opportunity. They are paying attention and so are their families.