Companies like Chipotle and McDonald’s offer tuition benefits through a federal program providing $5,250 in tax-free education assistance. New changes will adjust the cap for inflation and make tax-free loan repayment permanent.

2026 will favor community colleges that reinvent themselves to ensure institutional resilience, market relevance and programmatic alignment with workforce and community needs.

Elite colleges are enrolling record numbers of low-income students by widening recruitment and boosting aid. The shift is drawing scrutiny from the Trump administration, which questions whether targeting needier students is legal.

TikTok, lower tuition, and a search for new campus culture are fueling a surge of students from the North heading south.