National

Trump's higher ed shakeup starts a new semester

College loses its monopoly on the American Dream

Latino

Axios Latino

America's global student edge is slipping

A column chart that shows new international student enrollments at U.S. colleges by school year from 2015 to 2025. Enrollments fell from 301 thousand in 2015 to 146 thousand in 2020, rebounded to 299 thousand in 2023, then declined to an estimated 230 thousand in 2025.

New international student enrollments at U.S. colleges

Data: Open Doors, IIE; Chart: Erin Davis/Axios

School's back already? Maybe, maybe not

A choropleth map showing U.S. public school start dates before August 16. Darker-shaded states indicate a higher percentage of schools starting early, with most of the Southeast and part of the Southwest starting before this date. Lighter shades represent states with fewer schools starting before August 16, including several Northeast states with no schools opening prior to that date.

Share of schools open before August 16

Data: MDR Education; Map: Brad Jennings/Axios. Note: Includes public schools. Does not include year-round schools.

Exclusive: College AI use spikes

School recess is back in play

A state map shows school recess laws in the U.S. As of December 2025, 13 states (including D.C.) mandate recess laws, while 12 others have physical activity laws. Most states, 26, have no state mandate.

School recess laws

Data: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research via Bloomberg American Health Initiative; Map: Sami Sparber/Axios

Charlotte

Axios Charlotte

AI-powered Alpha Schools expands to 50 campuses

Where U.S. families spend the most on back-to-school shopping

A bar chart shows expected U.S. family back-to-school spending for 2026-27 by region. The U.S. average is $922. The Northeast is highest at $1,076, followed by the West at $960 and Midwest at $954. The South is lowest at $832. Data is from 2,080 adults surveyed May 20-22, 2026.

Expected U.S. family spending for the 2026 back-to-school season, by region

Axios AI+

Exclusive: Coursera investing $100 million in Andrew Ng's new startup

The Alma Mater of the Nation looks ahead

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