The Class of 2025
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What challenges are graduating seniors facing in 2025?
I'm Ayesha Roscoe, and you're listening to The Sunday Story, where we go beyond the news to bring you one big story. A few weeks before graduating from Duke Kunshan University, senior Liam Powell received a letter he'd been anticipating from the U.S. State Department.
How did a hiring freeze impact student internships?
Dear William N. Powell, thank you for your interest in an internship with the U.S. Department of State.
Liam was a global health major and he'd interned at the United States Agency for International Development or USAID. So when he saw there was an internship with the State Department, he applied and he was chosen. But then came a federal hiring freeze.
we regret to inform you that the U.S. Department of State has canceled the summer 2025 cycle of the student internship program. In accordance with the president's executive order entitled Hiring Freeze and the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management's joint memorandum, the department hereby rescinds your tentative offer to participate in the student internship program. We wish you success in your academic career. The email came to me March 14th this year, so pretty far down the line after the hiring freeze.
A couple of weeks ago, he walked across the stage at his graduation. As the class of 2025 celebrate their achievements so far, many like Liam are grappling with the question of what next? And that's the way it is with graduations, right? No one knows what is to come. Graduation season, it's a celebration. It's a time of optimism.
What emotions come with graduation and uncertainty?
And you know, it makes me feel nostalgic for my own college graduation from Howard University. You know, you're thinking like of all the people who've come before you, and you are now a part of this long line of alumni. And so it's almost like you're being baptized into this new part of your life. As a person, I was not ready to be on my own. I wasn't prepared or I didn't think I was prepared. But what I had learned in college, the seeds that were planted in me in college, they would bloom. And the woman that you see before you today or that you hear today, her voice was developed on that college campus. Now, I'm going someplace with this. I've been thinking about that younger Aisha because I recently talked to some graduating seniors who are in that same place.
At the same time, a lot has changed in higher education in the last several months. It seems like every time you turn on the news, there's a headline about how universities are being affected by the decisions of the federal government.
The Supreme Court recently cleared the way for the Trump administration to cancel roughly $65 million in federal education grants linked to diversity, equity and inclusion. This morning, the Trump administration has revoked the visas of 18 students at FIU.
How have higher education changes affected students?
Columbia University announced today is laying off 180 staff members working on research funded by federal grants after the Trump administration announced its intent to cut the university's funding.
I wanted to hear about their fears and hopes for the future, so I sat down with them.
My name is Liam Powell.
Liam Powell, who we just heard, a recent graduate of Duke Kunshan University.
I'm Melissa Johnson. I am a senior at Purdue University studying wildlife.
My name is Bobby McAlpine, and I am the current sitting student body president at The Ohio State University.
I felt inspired by these students and their sense of clarity and purpose as they consider the world that they're about to head out into and their determination and courage to find new paths for their lives. Our conversation after the break.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What challenges are graduating seniors facing in 2025?
0:00–0:17
2
How did a hiring freeze impact student internships?
0:17–1:48
3
What emotions come with graduation and uncertainty?
1:48–3:25
4
How have higher education changes affected students?
3:25–8:57
5
What are the current campus morale and student sentiments?
8:57–15:47
6
How are funding cuts impacting academic paths?
15:47–21:15
Speakers
6 identifiedMore from Up First from NPR
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