Senate Republicans return to Washington on Tuesday for the first time since they secured the Senate majority to determine who will be the new party leader in the chamber.

Trump’s expected choice of Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Mike Waltz indicates China is going to be at the center of U.S. foreign policy, deepening U.S.-China tensions.

A grizzly bear enjoyed every bit of a recent snow day at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

A baby goat that found itself stuck for days on a cliff in Hawaii has been rescued by a group of volunteers.

ABC News’ Bob Woodruff and philanthropist Craig Newmark share a preview of the Woodruff Foundation’s annual “Stand Up for Heroes” event.

While contestant Will admitted that his nerves got the best of him when trying to solve the puzzle, we still think his attempt deserves a round of applause.

As Donald Trump prepares to make good on his promise to deport possibly millions of undocumented immigrants, the private prison industry appears poised to cash in.

Wastewater contains nutrients that can overfeed algae, leading to harmful algal blooms and pollution issues in the ocean and other waterways. A new study by researchers at Penn State tracked how these nutrients migrate from disposal sites in the Florida Keys, and the results have already informed wastewater practices in the region.

An international team of researchers led by Ida Djenontin, assistant professor of geography at Penn State, was recently awarded a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Dynamics of Integrated Socio-Environmental Systems program to investigate the socioecological outcomes of restoration in degraded woodlands ecosystems.

Mining expert Barbara Arnold, professor of practice in mining engineering, joined a panel of experts to discuss how the United States will need to make dramatic advances to increase its technical- and skilled-labor workforce to power its green energy future and to become less reliant on foreign nations for securing materials used in both everyday devices and critical national security applications.

Penn State’s Local Climate Action Program is making a valuable impact beyond Pennsylvania’s borders, thanks in part to Joe Thompson, a World Campus Energy and Sustainability Policy graduate. Thompson was recently honored at a ceremony hosted by the San Diego chapter of the Climate Action Campaign, for his help in creating the City of Orange climate action plan.

Penn State will be sending its second delegation of students and faculty to COP29, the United Nations’ annual climate meeting, which will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November.

Second-year student Morgan Dawkins and fifth-year student Olivia DiPrinzio spoke to the Board of Trustees about their experiences with the Schreyer Honors College. Honors programming has allowed them to find guidance, craft a courseload specific to their interests and find opportunities for professional development. 

Penn State’s Consortium on Moral Decision-Making and Moral Psychology Research Group are co-hosting a conference Nov. 15-17 to highlight interdisciplinary research on moral and ethical decision-making.

Penn State Brandywine’s Student Spotlight series highlights the remarkable work being done by students in leadership, academics, service, athletics and more.

Penn State Brandywine's and Penn State Berks' LaunchBoxes collaborated with Penn State Great Valley to hold the Fall 2024 Idea TestLab Pitch Competition on Nov. 4. Six startup business owners participated in the competition. 

Penn State Brandywine’s and Penn State Berks’ LaunchBoxes, powered by Penn State, collaborated with Penn State Great Valley to hold the fall 2024 Idea TestLab Pitch Competition on Nov. 4. Six startup entrepreneurs participated in the competition, which was held at Great Valley.

AP has managed to dodge the partisan pitfalls that have felled other ambitious curricular efforts—so far, write Chester E. Finn Jr. and Andrew E. Scanlan.

Here's a handy glossary on terms like project-based learning, competency-based learning, and standards-based grading.

Group projects founder when students don't work well together. Here's the latest thinking on evaluating students on both content mastery and collaboration skills.

The arts, geography, economics, and foreign languages will lose their place in the testing line-up as the National Assessment of Educational Progress is being streamlined to cut costs.

The PARCC and Smarter Balanced assessments have evolved since they were launched in 2015. Here's a guide to understanding them now.

As the two big groups of states craft common-assessment systems, experts warn that the smallest details could undermine their work.

The U.S. Department of Education sees two specific challenges potentially undermining the quality of the international assessment program, writes Mark Schneider.

Penn State New Kensington will honor its fall 2023 and spring 2024 graduates on May 6 with an in-person ceremony at 10 a.m. The ceremony will also be livestreamed. Adis Juklo, alumnus and current meteorologist at WPXI-TV in Pittsburgh, will serve as the event’s keynote speaker.

Kevin Snider, who became chancellor of the New Kensington campus in 2008, will leave behind a legacy of innovation, fostering partnerships and community development when he retires from Penn State on Dec. 31.

Erin Kitt-Lewis, associate director of education for the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing’s Tressa Nese and Helen Diskevich Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, has been named a 2024 Distinguished Educator in Gerontological Nursing by the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence. 

Penn State World Campus will accept credits from certain courses offered by the Community College of the Air Force that can be transferred toward a bachelor of science in organizational leadership. The degree is offered online through Penn State World Campus by the School of Labor and Employment Relations in the College of the Liberal Arts.

The science major in the Penn State Eberly College of Science has been renamed integrative science as part of a modern refresh to reflect its interdisciplinary nature.

Dr. Mary Catherine Santos, pediatric surgeon and professor of surgery and pediatrics at Penn State College of Medicine, is among an elite group of surgeon educators to be inducted membership into the American College of Surgeons Academy of Master Surgeon Educators in 2024.

Roger Myers, recent graduate of Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, has accepted an internship with Walt Disney World Resort.

Pamela Pologruto has received the F.A. Davis Award for Outstanding Physical Therapist Assistant Educator. The American Physical Therapy Association recognized her achievement with this national award, only given to one recipient annually, at their honors and awards reception ceremony in Kansas City, Missouri.

Eric Wicklund, co-author of "Through a Convict’s Eyes: An Overlooked View of the Criminal Justice System," will visit Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus at 12:15 p.m. on Oct. 29 to discuss his insights on criminal rehabilitation. He will be joined by his co-author, Lavarr McBride, who has worked in the criminal justice field for 39 years and serves as a professor of criminal justice at Penn State Fayette.

High school students interested in science, technology, engineering, the arts or mathematics (STEAM) are invited to a day of hands-on STEAM activities at Penn State Wilkes-Barre at no cost. “Exploring STEAM Careers” will be held at the campus on Nov. 6. Sessions will be held in the areas of chemistry, engineering, information technology, mathematics and surveying engineering.

Rebecca Mattson, head of faculty and research services and professor of legal research at Penn State Law in University Park, was recently awarded the prestigious 2024 Service Award by the Research Instruction & Patron Services Special Interest Section of the American Association of Law Libraries.

Penn State Law welcomed the LL.M. (master of laws) class of 2025 to the University Park campus for orientation on Aug. 20, kicking off another year of one of the largest and most diverse LL.M. programs in the United States. The class of 2025 includes 163 LL.M. and 13 exchange students, coming from 31 countries across the world.

Second and third-year law students enrolled in the Veterans and Servicemembers Legal Clinic at Penn State Law in University Park honed their advocacy skills while assisting five Vietnam veterans and their families, and two other veterans, to win disability and/or survivor claims before the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Penn State Law Minority Mentor Program held its 10th annual kickoff reception on Sept. 6 at Toftrees Golf Resort in State College.

Penn State Dickinson Law and Penn State Law have entered the critical final steps of reunification with the recent submission of Applications for Acquiescence in a Substantive Change of Program or Structure to the Council of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, the recognized accreditor for law schools.

In August 2024, Pennsylvania resident Max Justice launched Setas Eternal Living. His flagship product, MyCoffin, is a biodegradable coffin made from mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms. Justice has utilized resources provided by Penn State Law's Entrepreneur Assistance and Intellectual Property clinics and Happy Valley LaunchBox to grow his business. 

Faculty and staff in Penn State’s Law, Policy, and Engineering (LPE) initiative were recently tapped by the governor’s office to lead a two-day training program in September in Harrisburg on science and technology policy. The faculty and staff are part of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Science and Technology Policy Program, which is run by LPE and aims to improve public and environmental health, economic and social equity, and public scientific discourse in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Roebuck will discuss his past and future projects, many of which were filmed in the Lehigh Valley.

Penn State School of Music announces the inaugural performance of its Opera Workshop, led by new faculty members Dawn Pierce and Parker Konkle. The performance, titled "Seasons of Love," will take place on Dec. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the School of Music’s Recital Hall. This unique presentation will explore a range of lyric repertoire, offering an avant-garde experience that merges music, movement, and storytelling. 

Three-time Grammy Award-winning vocalist Samara Joy will perform her third annual “A Joyful Holiday” featuring the McLendon Family in concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, in Eisenhower Auditorium.

The Woskob Family Gallery will host “Hands-on History: The Experience of Braiding a Lost Inca Rope” from Nov. 15-17, where participants will learn ancient braiding techniques and contribute to the reconstruction of a centuries-old Incan rope. The workshop will be open to the public each day from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and participants are encouraged to dedicate at least one hour to the workshop.

The Penn State School of Music's annual "Mosaic" concert will return to Eisenhower Auditorium on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. 

Voice assistants (VAs) like Alexa and Siri continue to gain popularity in households and on personal devices. According to digital trends research company Emarketer, the number of VA users will surpass 150 million in 2025. Despite the ubiquity, companies haven’t been able to work around users’ strong negative reactions to advertising on these applications. A research team, including scholars from Penn State, may have a solution.