Issues important to higher education seem endless.

The United States Supreme Court ended race-based admissions in June, which I’m sure made millions of teenagers of color around the country and the world anxious about whether they would get accepted into dream schools. Legacy admissions for scions of wealthy or well-connected alumni at some of those same schools were challenged as a result of that same ruling, sending shivers of nervousness to privileged people, too.

Artificial intelligence threatens to take away the discovery process of young people studying and figuring out problems on their own by giving them the words to craft would-be research papers. National security concerns have pushed some campuses to ban TikTok on their public Wi-Fi. Students can’t afford housing. Controversial faculty appointments have been made and rescinded. Financially strapped universities are cutting majors and disciplines. A war on woke education finds new targets daily.

With all of this before us, I will travel to California this week to gather with reporters at the Education Writers Association conference on higher education. We will talk about how we can best present these stories to the public. Every issue matters deeply to someone, from the pots of gold available in reshuffling in athletic conferences, to the urgency of finding housing to keep students from being homeless.

I am honored to be able to present some of these issues to you in the Monitor’s pages, and I hope along the way that you suggest a story or two to me. School is back in session. What will we uncover this year?