Internships, apprenticeships and other career explorations have long been unavailable to adults, working students and online learners.

Several universities across the U.S. issued shelter-in-place alerts on the first day of fall classes after reports of armed individuals on campus. Police later determined most were hoaxes or “swatting” calls—using temporary numbers and voice-masking apps—with no evidence of gunmen or violence found.

Sophisticated criminal networks are using stolen student identities to pose as applicants at U.S. colleges, draining tens of millions of dollars in financial aid and crowding out legitimate students, recent reports show.