Consortia accelerate in the face of new challenges and opportunities
CUMU was recently highlighted in the news. This article was originally published in TechPipeline on July 24, 2025.
A great idea can come from anywhere, and when the premise of the coalition is built around sharing information, great ideas that can lead to concrete action are held at a premium. Such is the case with the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU), which has 120 members nationwide. Its reach is comprehensive, including elite institutions, regional public schools, commuter schools, land-grant universities, community colleges, religious private schools, and minority-serving institutions. And it’s still growing; thirteen universities have joined CUMU just this year.
Valerie Holton, CEO of CUMU, points to a key pillar of the coalition’s mission.
“It’s a complicated time in higher education, and that’s why it’s ever more important to be able to come together and share what you’re doing, brainstorm new ideas, and see what works in one place and how that might work in another place,” Holton says.