Matching Aptitude to Opportunity

Matching Aptitude to Opportunity

by | Aug 15, 2025 | Video, Working Learners

Matching Aptitude to Opportunity

The big picture:

Many working learners land in programs that don’t fit and stop out, sometimes multiple times.

Why it matters:

Aligning education with natural aptitudes boosts persistence, completion, and job readiness while filling talent gaps in tech, manufacturing, finance, engineering.

What’s needed:

  • Measure aptitudes early
  • Expand real-world exposure
  • Connect programs to careers
  • Honor prior learning
  • Show clear personal ROI

Bottom line:

When learners see a path that fits who they are, they stick, finish, and thrive.

Rio Salado College: Building a Culture of Student Success

Rio Salado College: Building a Culture of Student Success

by | Aug 11, 2025 | Outcomes and Accountability, Underserved Communities

Rio Salado College: Building a Culture of Student Success

Why it matters:

Rio Salado College has pioneered innovative student support services that leverage technology while maintaining a human-centered approach.

Key insights:

  • Technology + human touch: Rio Salado combines AI-powered tools with personal advisors to create a balanced support system
  • Proactive intervention: Data analytics identify struggling students before they fall behind
  • Diverse support services: From mental health resources to specialized veterans services
  • Career pathways: Apprenticeships and teacher residency programs create direct routes to employment
  • Incarcerated student programs: Innovative digital literacy training prepares students for post-release employment

The bottom line:

Technology should enhance rather than replace human connection in student services, creating a comprehensive support system that addresses academic, personal, and career needs.

New Higher Education Regulations Take Shape

New Higher Education Regulations Take Shape

by | Aug 8, 2025 | Policy

New Higher Education Regulations Take Shape

Why it matters:

The Department of Education is launching two negotiated rulemaking committees to implement significant changes from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), affecting federal student loans and higher education access.

The RISE Committee

  • Focus: Federal student loan changes enacted in OBBBA
  • Scope: Pre-disbursement changes (loan limits, graduate PLUS program phaseout, institutional authority to limit loans) and repayment reforms (simplified income-driven repayment, multiple rehabilitation options)
  • Timeline: Meeting last week of September, first week of October, and one week in November

The AHEAD Committee

  • Focus: Other Higher Education Act changes from OBBBA
  • Key elements: Workforce Pell (allowing Pell eligibility for programs under 600 clock hours between 8-15 weeks) and new programmatic earnings accountability metrics
  • Timeline: Meeting one week in December and early January 2026

What’s next

  • August 25 deadline: Written comments and negotiator nominations due
  • Higher ed stakeholders encouraged to submit proposals and ideas to shape implementation of these new provisions
Rethinking Higher Ed for the Automation Age

Rethinking Higher Ed for the Automation Age

by | Aug 6, 2025 | Innovation

Rethinking Higher Ed for the Automation Age

What’s happening:

Higher ed is at a breaking point and stuck in a system built for another era.

Why it matters:

Gordon Freedman says institutions can’t just layer AI onto legacy models. To serve learners and meet workforce needs, we need new infrastructure: student-centered, employer-connected, and built for the automation age.

The big idea:

Learning identity. Deep ownership. Real collaboration. And a system that helps individuals manage their futures, not just navigate someone else’s.

July 2025 CHIPS Update

July 2025 CHIPS Update

by | Jul 29, 2025 | Innovation

The CHIPS and Science Act continues to drive significant progress in the U.S. semiconductor industry. Here are the latest developments:

Natcast Opens NSTC EUV Accelerator at NY CREATES’ Albany NanoTech Complex

In a major milestone for U.S. semiconductor innovation, Natcast celebrated the grand opening of the CHIPS for America Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Accelerator on July 14, 2025. Located at the NY CREATES Albany NanoTech Complex, this facility is one of three NSTC flagship R&D facilities across the country.

The EUV Accelerator, operational since July 1, will provide researchers access to cutting-edge EUV lithography tools essential for developing smaller, faster, and more efficient chips. The facility features standard numerical aperture EUV lithography capabilities now, with High NA EUV equipment expected in 2026.

New Research Initiatives Open for Public Input

Natcast has announced two Requests for Information (RFIs) to shape future research programs:

1. Interconnect Materials and Processes for Computing Applications

This initiative focuses on developing innovative materials and integrated processes for monolithic backend of line (BEOL) interconnects. As transistor density increases, the resulting resistance and capacitance in BEOL interconnects create challenges that this program aims to address through novel conducting materials, low-k ILD materials, and integrated processes.

Submissions are due by August 1, 2025, at 5:00 PM EDT.

2. Co-Packaged Optical Engine Development for AI Infrastructure

This RFI seeks stakeholder input to establish R&D priorities for co-packaged optical engines that will help scale AI and HPC infrastructure. The program aims to identify gaps in standards, challenges in prototyping, and barriers to commercialization.

Both RFIs welcome input from a broad range of organizations including foundries, IDMs, materials suppliers, equipment vendors, academia, startups, and research institutions.

For more information on these initiatives or to submit proposals for the EUV Accelerator, visit natcast.org.