Trump Threats Intensify the College Cost Crisis
Four-year universities are changing rapidly—just look at the trends in majors. Plus: Emerging markets feel 'China Shock.'
By and Reyhan Harmanci
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'What's your major?' might be the most common conversation starter on college campuses. It's also a metric for seeing how much universities have changed over the past 50 years. Check out the graphic by Dorothy Gambrell below as Reyhan Harmanci describes Bloomberg Businessweek 's new package on higher education. Plus: Another 'China Shock' is here, and why we don't know what AI will do for productivity yet. If this email was forwarded to you, click here to sign up.
Escalating costs, controversial protests and the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have had US colleges in a tailspin. And things are only getting worse.
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Chicago Tribune
44 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
This month could test buyers' hunger for new vehicles as non-tariffed inventories dry up
Consumers' hunger for new vehicles persisted in May, but affordability concerns could cool sales this month as dealerships start running short on cars and SUVs delivered ahead of President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs. Ford Motor Co.'s U.S. sales increased 16% year-over-year last month. Hyundai Motor Co.'s grew 8%, while Kia Corp.'s rose 5%. Subaru Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp., however, did report declines of 10% and 19%, respectively. General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV will report second-quarter sales next month. Spring typically marks a surge in vehicle sales, as tax returns hit bank accounts and the weather warms up. But consumer sentiment has plunged to some of its lowest levels in decades amid frequently changing rules on tariffs, and concerns that vehicle prices could climb later this year have led some consumers to pull forward their purchases. S&P Global Mobility forecasted May sales up 2% compared to a year ago, but predicted sales were slowing to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 15.7 million vehicles, down from 17.6 million from March to April. 'Consumer confidence is down, but the sales are not,' said Stephanie Brinley, associate director of research and analysis at S&P's AutoIntelligence. 'It doesn't usually work that way.' With inventories down and non-tariffed models increasingly eaten up, the 'affordability bullet has not come through yet. There's a little bit of wait-and-see for what automakers really do,' Brinley added, noting June could start revealing the direction companies choose to take. Some have given consumers confidence that they can wait a bit. Ford, through the July 4 weekend, is offering its customers thousands of dollars per vehicle in discounts typically reserved for its employees, though in early May, it did increase by up to $2,000 the price of its Mexico-built vehicles because of tariffs. Stellantis — the parent of Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and other brands — is offering a similar employee discount program, which it has extended through June. Volkswagen AG has said it will hold to its current manufacturer's suggested retail prices through June. GM CEO Mary Barra has said the automaker doesn't expect major price increases. But imports are expected to slow, which will mean less availability of vehicles and encourage price increases, Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist at dealer digital services provider Cox Automotive Inc., said in a May forecast. 'As more tariffed products replace existing inventory over the summer,' he said, 'prices are expected to be pushed higher, leading to slower sales in the coming months.' Some dealers are already noticing some wariness. 'I haven't seen people this cautious since before, or during, the early stages of COVID,' said Jim Walen, the owner of Stellantis and Hyundai showrooms in Seattle. The ports in Seattle look 'empty,' he said. Major layoffs in Washington by Microsoft Corp. haven't helped business either. Stellantis' employee discount program, however, is a boon: 'Anytime you can affect the transaction price, it's a good thing.' Meanwhile, some dealers are going to pull back over revenue concerns, Walen said, but he's taking a different approach: 'We're very aggressive. We stock a lot, we're part of the community, we advertise a lot.' Some pull-ahead sales still seem to be occurring over tariff concerns, but other shoppers are dropping out of the market altogether, said Ivan Drury, director of insights at auto information website Inc. It may still be too early to determine if the circumstances will affect vehicle segments, but for now, there appears to be limited downgrading, as some customers would rather hold off than get a vehicle without certain features. There are also wide-ranging views on tariffs, how they work and the impact they will have, he added: 'Not everybody's on the same page.' There, however, are some trends. More consumers bought out their leases in May than in April, rather than leasing again. That could be a sign customers are seeking to limit increases to their monthly payments, but it also means they're stepping out of the market, Drury said. He added that inventory is declining, but there's still too much stock — more than 2.5 million vehicles are on dealer lots — to see substantial price increases. 'The last time when we had people really get hit with price increases, where it took them back, was when we were down to 1 million units,' Drury said. 'And that's where you start to see that crossover between consumers getting a deal versus consumers just dealing and saying, 'OK, fine, I'll pay MSRP. I'll pay above.' ' The share of electric vehicles in the market was forecasted to continue slipping. EV share was about 7% in March and April, and S&P was predicting it would be 6.8% in May. Ford EV sales last month were down by a quarter, driven by decreases in the F-150 Lightning pickup and Transit commercial van. Trump has pulled federal funding for EV charging infrastructure and directed his administration to reevaluate greenhouse gas tailpipe emission regulations and incentives that could be construed as an 'EV mandate.' The U.S. Senate last month also removed a waiver that enabled California and a contingent of states to enforce stricter zero-emission requirements on passenger vehicle sales. The result is an uncertain policy environment around EVs. 'They've been trending a little bit down the whole year,' Brinley said. 'It may be some people looking for an EV in January bought, expecting the incentives to go away, but they're not afraid of that anymore.' Rhett Ricart, who has eight new-vehicle storefronts for brands from Ford and Chevrolet to Nissan and Mitsubishi in and near Columbus, Ohio, said tariffs and policy changes are on the minds of EV buyers, but he otherwise describes sales as normal. 'A possible tariff scare people had doesn't seem to exist,' Ricart said, adding about expectations that Trump or the judicial system will offer some clarity on import taxes: 'For any jitteriness, we will hopefully find out if the tariffs stick soon.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
WPP CEO Mark Read to retire at challenging juncture for agency giant
This story was originally published on Marketing Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Marketing Dive newsletter. WPP CEO Mark Read will retire at the end of December after seven years at the helm of the world's largest ad-holding group, according to an announcement posted by the company's board Monday. Read will work with the board to find a successor, the executive said on his LinkedIn. He called out WPP's ongoing work around data and artificial intelligence-driven transformation while acknowledging that the current business environment is 'challenging.' Whoever takes over the CEO spot has a tall order to fill. WPP has contended with a number of painful client losses and spending pullbacks and is in the midst of significantly overhauling some of its most important assets, including WPP Media, formerly GroupM. Read took on the mantle as CEO of WPP seven years ago after the contentious departure of Martin Sorrell, an executive who, over the course of decades, shaped what was once a wire basket company into a sprawling advertising empire. As the successor to an industry titan, Read's tenure has not been short on incident, with challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, periods of global unrest, inflation and the advent of generative AI. Announcing his departure, the agency chief touted his efforts to make AI a central piece of WPP, including through the broader implementation of the Open operating system this year. 'The progress our teams have made has been superb and when I 'demo' WPP Open to our clients they are always amazed by what it can do,' wrote Read, who spent more than 30 years at WPP in total, in his LinkedIn note. Still, WPP's performance has lagged compared to peers, dragged down by a raft of large client losses and sharper spending pullbacks in markets like China. Revenue less pass-through costs declined 2.7% on a like-for-like basis to 2.48 billion pounds, or about $3.2 billion, in Q1 2025. Discussing the quarterly results earlier this spring, Read cautioned that tariffs could further impact brands' appetites for advertising. In an attempt to turn its fortunes around, WPP has enacted some dramatic moves of late. In April, it acquired data collaboration platform InfoSum to further evolve its capabilities beyond legacy identity solutions built on technology like cookies. Earlier this month, it formally rebranded GroupM, its media investment arm, to WPP Media. The change is expected to impact 40% to 45% of the unit's workforce. Paramount, a longtime client, suddenly cut ties with the group last week amid plans for a merger with Skydance Media, Deadline reported, another blow to a business that is trying to turn a new leaf. Some of Read's policies have also proven controversial with employees, such as a four day return-to-office plan that had a haphazard rollout earlier this year. For some analysts, Read stepping down is an expected outcome after years of transformation work failed to return the group to consistent levels of growth. The announcement comes a week out from Cannes Lions, an international gathering that effectively acts as the Oscars for advertising. 'The news is unsurprising because of WPP's lackluster business and stock performance in recent years alongside the installation of a new Board Chairman at the beginning of this year,' said Brian Wieser of Madison and Wall in a note around the news. 'Presumably the delay of the transition of Board Chair role by a year was responsible for prolonging this outcome.' WPP maintains what Wieser described as a 'deep bench' of talent that could succeed Read, and may draw on outside candidates, but still needs to iron out a more concrete strategic direction. Recommended Reading GroupM becomes WPP Media as holding company prepares for future Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
American Press
an hour ago
- American Press
Chamber CEO: 'We can't accept the status quo'
Scott Walker, the new president and CEO of the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance, told Calcasieu Parish police jurors at their most recent meeting his plans for the area's future. 'If you think about it and what's happened since COVID, we feel that here Louisiana has lost population, our region has lost population,' Walker said. 'We're trying to build that back, but we're not where we used to be.' According to Walker, regional success has common factors — winning regions are strategic and have a long-term focus because they invest in themselves, they're organized for collaboration, they have a customer-service focus and they continuously improve. Walker said he has a strategic plan that kicked off in May to help the region rebuild. 'We can't rest and we can't just accept the status quo,' Walker said, and sentiment echoed by Judd Bares, president of the jury. 'I've sensed from the few times we've met that you're here to work and it shows and we're excited,' Bares said. 'We can't wait to collaborate and help in any way we can.' Also at the meeting, the jury adopted a resolution approving the submittal of a grant application to the state's Department Children and Family Services for participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Education and Training Program for Oct. 1-Sept. 30. The move would also mean a cost reimbursement share for the grant. Erika Garrison, assistant director for the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury Human Services Department, explained what this means for those qualifying. 'This is essentially for individuals who are receiving SNAP benefits, they can connect to our program and we work with them to provide access to different types of training to receive a certification where they can then go and apply for a higher paying wage job and get off of benefits essentially, so it's a way for them to achieve economic stability,' Garrison said. The Police Jury rejected a resolution on bids received by the Parish Purchasing Agent for the paving and exterior improvements at various Calcasieu Parish Libraries Project due to budgetary constraints and requested permission to readvertise with a revised scope of work. The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury will meet again on June 26 at 5:30 p.m.
