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The 10 best U.S. companies to work for in 2024, according to LinkedIn—Amazon is No. 2

The best companies to work for include big names in tech, health care and financial services, according to new research from LinkedIn. 

On Tuesday, the networking platform released its annual Top Companies list identifying the 50 best places in the U.S. for professionals to grow their careers. 

JP Morgan Chase & Co. claimed the No.1 spot, with other recognizable names like Verizon, Amazon and Wells Fargo rounding out the top 10. 

To determine the ranking, LinkedIn rated each organization on several factors, including gender diversity, upskilling opportunities for employees and the frequency and speed at which employees are promoted.

LinkedIn published two lists as part of its report: one for midsize companies with at least 250 employees and another for large companies with 5,000 employees or more. 

Here are the top 10 large U.S. companies to work for in 2024, according to LinkedIn: 

• JP Morgan Chase & Co. 
• Wells Fargo
• UnitedHealth Group
• Alphabet Inc. 

LinkedIn also considered factors like attrition and layoffs — companies that have laid off 10% or more of their workforce between January 2023 and April 2024 were ineligible for the list. 

Citi, which ranked 14th on LinkedIn's list last year, was not eligible for this year's list after announcing it was eliminating approximately 10% of its workforce in January 2024.

While some companies such as AT&T, JP Morgan Chase & Co. and UnitedHealth Group appeared at the top of LinkedIn's ranking in 2023, nearly half (44%) of the companies on this year's ranking are new to the Top Companies list, including Moderna and Visa (#36).

In a bid to attract and retain talent, the most competitive companies are offering hybrid work arrangements, increasing salaries or investing more in employees' career development, per LinkedIn's research. 

For example, American Express (#49) offers a flexible work program that allows many employees to work up to four calendar weeks per year from any location without coming to the office, while Amazon (#2) provides free skills training to its hourly employees.

In its report, LinkedIn also called out how several companies across tech, finance, consulting  and health care are using AI to help their employees advance their careers. 

Procter & Gamble (#22) offers "Competing in the Age of AI" classes from Harvard Business School to its employees, while AT&T (#7) created an AI chatbot to support employees with a variety of tasks including generating code and writing meeting summaries. 

Even if you're not interested in working for one of the companies on the list, you can use it as a "scorecard" to help guide your next job search, says Andrew Seaman, senior managing editor for jobs and career development at LinkedIn News.

"Not everyone can work at Verizon or Amazon, but I think this list highlights the qualities of a good, solid employer, and you can measure potential employers against those metrics," Seaman explains. "Ultimately, knowing what other companies are doing well, and how they're supporting their employees, can help you figure out what you want, or don't want from a workplace."

Want to land your dream job in 2024?  Take  CNBC's new online course How to Ace Your Job Interview  to learn what hiring managers are really looking for, body language techniques, what to say and not to say, and the best way to talk about pay.

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LinkedIn Shares 7 Insights For Powerful Online Engagement

Head of Engineering for LinkedIn Premium shares how her team set the foundation for creating high quality user experiences online

LinkedIn shared insights with Search Engine Journal about how to effectively plan and roll out new features based on their experience planning and rolling out new AI features. The insights are useful whether you’re planning a content strategy or adding new features to your business.

I spoke with Prashanthi Padmanabhan, Head of Engineering for LinkedIn Premium. LinkedIn recently rolled out a massive change for their premium subscribers that analyzes comments, articles, videos, and posts and suggest how the information is useful for the member, as well as a new job seeker experience.

What happened behind the scenes and the takeaways from it offer useful insights that are useful to anyone who publishes or sells online.

Prashanthi Padmanabhan, Head of Engineering for LinkedIn Premium

Creating A Foundation For Success

I asked Prashanthi about her takeaways on planning and creating these features and her answer consisted of three points

• Anchor your strategy to your mission
• Think through how your plans add value to your audience or customers
• Get member feedback from day one

Here is what she shared:

“There are three main takeaways for me from this experience so far. The first is to anchor your strategy to your mission. A robust product strategy and roadmap should always be anchored in the company’s overarching mission. By aligning every decision on our roadmap with this purpose, we ensure our efforts directly contribute to member success. The next is about thinking through how to leverage technical innovations. As part of the engineering team, we embrace cutting-edge technologies like Generative AI. These innovations allow us to craft elegant and practical solutions that cater to our members’ needs. Our commitment lies in delivering features that truly add value to our members’ experiences. Last, but not least, is to incorporate member feedback early and often. We strongly believe that our members’ feedback and sentiments are invaluable. From the moment our product faces our customers, it’s Day 1. We build and roll out features through iterative development, relying on a blend of internal reviews and in-product feedback to gauge quality. For instance, our initial foray into AI-powered writing suggestions for LinkedIn profiles and messages provided valuable insights from our members’ point of view. By listening to our members and adapting based on their actions, we will continue to refine features to meet—and ideally exceed—their expectations.”

Map Your Plans To User’s Needs, Not Trends

There are always many ideas of things that a business can do for their users. But what’s the right way to assess if something is worth doing?

Prashanthi answered that she and team started with understanding member’s needs as an ongoing iterative process. This is a great insight for anyone who works online and wants to go beyond what competitors are doing.

Another insight that everyone should pay attention to is that LinkedIn didn’t look at what others are doing, they focused on what their users might find useful. A lot of SEO and online content projects begin with competitor research and that’s something that in my opinion leads to unoriginal content that is the opposite of the unique experiences that Google wants to show in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

She answered:

“The process of identifying the right features to add begins with a deep understanding of our members’ and customers’ needs. We do this by validating our hypotheses through research and feedback. However, it’s not a one-time task; it’s an ongoing, iterative process. At LinkedIn, we rely on a combination of data, success metrics, and member feedback to gauge how well we’re meeting those needs. As we evolve our products, alignment to our mission, data insights, and feedback help guide our overall development journey. For example, when we recognized that Generative AI could revolutionize technology, we didn’t simply follow trends. Instead, we asked ourselves: Could this technology truly benefit our members? If so, how could we integrate it into our Premium platform? For instance, we explored using it to simplify tasks like helping to write when starting a blank page or extracting key insights from LinkedIn feed posts. It’s important to note that LinkedIn Premium is intentionally designed to enhance member productivity and experience based on their individual goals. So the features we add to Premium should map to their specific needs – for job seekers that could be helping them stand out to find the right job, getting the right insights for creators to help them build their audiences, and giving businesses a platform to build and grow their brand.”

The Importance Of The Why, What, & When

Every business faces the question, what do we do next and how do we do it? Prashanthi offered her insights on what to focus on in order to maximize for a successful outcome.

Prashanthi shared:

“Our product engineering principles at LinkedIn are rooted in three fundamental elements: starting with the “why,” aligning on the “what,” and optimizing for the “when.” We found these principles are a solid guide for navigating through the complex process of creating impactful products that resonate with our members. The why is determined by delving into the site’s purpose and identifying the target audience—those who will benefit most from the site’s offerings. This clarity on the “why” sets the foundation for subsequent decisions. With the “why” firmly in mind, now align on the “what.” This step involves defining the set of features and capabilities the site needs. We ask ourselves, what functionalities are essential to address the identified needs and then go from there. Carefully curating this feature set can help get a better feel for how they align with members’ requirements. The final step is optimizing for the “when.” Engineering teams often grapple with the delicate balance between craftsmanship and time-to-market. Rather than waiting indefinitely for perfection, embrace early testing, such as releasing a minimum viable product (MVP) to gather feedback promptly. Metrics such as site visitor volume, engagement duration, and return frequency guide the assessment of the site’s value. It’s a dynamic dance between precision and speed, all aimed at delivering an exceptional experience.”

What Is A Good User Experience?

The concept of user experience can be subjective, we all have an idea of what it might be. I wanted to find out from Prashanthi, as head of engineering, how does one even translate the concept of a good user experience to an actual user experience online?

Her answer emphasized the importance of keeping things as simple and intuitive as possible, plus consistency.

She shared:

“For me, a good user experience means a product is simple, intuitive, and trustworthy. As an engineering team, translating the concept of a good user experience into reality requires meticulous attention to detail throughout the process. At LinkedIn this starts at the very beginning when we are transforming product and design specifications into a technical design. It’s essential to focus on simplicity and the consistency of the user experience across the entire product, so it’s intuitive to use with less cognitive load. I’m also a big fan of clear and concise messaging (copy) for our customers as they help to build trust; in fact, when users run into issues, the clarity and usefulness of error messages and support resources make a huge difference. I’ve found that customers are forgiving when your product works well and fast most of the time, and during times when there are issues, clear guidance on how they can best navigate that situation is critical. When it comes to reliability and performance, it’s simple – the product should work reliably every single time. A high-performance product gives users instant gratification as people care a lot about productivity and saving time, so they should be able to trust that the product will always work, and work fast.”

Importance Of Commitment To Improvement

A majority of LinkedIn’s users indicated that the new features are useful. I asked Prashanthi is the takeaway for online businesses that would in their own way increase the helpfulness of their business, whether that’s an ecommerce site, recipe blog, product review or comparison site?

Her answer suggests that creating content or features that resonate with users is a key to increasing the helpfulness of a website, something that’s super important for any online business today.

She offered the following insights:

“We’re extremely excited that early tests show that 90% of subscribers with access to our popular AI-powered job experience find it useful! This positive feedback underscores our commitment to creating features that genuinely resonate with our members. Rather than focusing on technology for technology’s sake, prioritizing how this tech can genuinely benefit our members seems to be resonating. As professionals we know that job hunting can be an isolating and overwhelming experience, so we’ve introduced AI-assistant features designed to support and guide members throughout their job search journey, leveraging the knowledge from our Economic Graph. Our goal is to provide a virtual handhold, enabling job seekers to efficiently and confidently identify roles that align with their skills and aspirations. The overwhelmingly positive response reinforces that we’re moving in the right direction. Our product development journey is guided by a combination of essential factors: Product intuition Technical innovation Data insights Customer feedback. These elements apply universally to any product we create. It’s essential to recognize that achieving success doesn’t happen overnight. Instead, it requires a culture of rapid experimentation and continuous learning. We understand that perfection isn’t attainable on the first try, but our commitment to improvement drives us forward.”

How To Decide What’s Helpful For Users?

Being unique and helpful is important for ranking in today’s search engine. But how does one go about reimagining the user’s experience? It can be difficult to someone inside the business to understand what users may need.

I asked, what advice would you give an online business, whether that’s an ecommerce or a product review site that is contemplating what they can do better to serve their users?

She suggested the following steps:

“When we create new products, it’s essential to consider what other people need. So, right at the start, finding ways to bring more of the outside into development is critical. In the initial phases of developing our product strategy and roadmap for Premium, our user experience research and marketing teams conducted a combination of qualitative (numbers) and quantitative (stories) research to develop a deeper understanding of specific needs and related sentiments. This kind of research helps refine the personas we are building products for and clearly articulates the specific jobs and goals people are trying to accomplish with our products. For any business, this process can really humanize the product development process by helping to build a clear picture of the people that the product is designed for. It’s like getting to know them as real individuals. But don’t just stop there. Once a basic version of the product (MVP) is ready, test it with a small group and pay attention to how well it works and what is said by the users. At LinkedIn, we involve our engineers in this process so they can learn about member’s needs and hear feedback first hand. As an engineering leader, I really enjoy sitting in these research sessions!—it makes the problems the team and I are solving feel more real. It’s better than just reading a list of product requirements.”

Cultivate Empathy For Online Success

A lot of times I read posts on social media where someone describes how they did their keyword research, hired experts for content and did many things to demonstrate expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness but nothing about empathizing with the site visitors, something that Prashanthi suggested was key to creating quality user experiences.

Reading some of LinkedIn’s descriptions of what they do, I saw a reference to a “user-focused lens” and I was curious about what that means to LinkedIn and what the end goal of that is.

“Looking through a user-focused lens is about really connecting with our members and understanding their needs and experiences, with the goal being that what we create is functional as well as a joy to use. As product builders, our most important job is to build ones that solve our member’s needs and create value for them at every touch point. For me, the only way to internalize what this means is to put ourselves in our members’ shoes and empathize with their needs. And this is where all product development functions, especially engineering, staying close to the member experience, sentiments, feedback, etc. will go a long way in developing a member-centric product development culture. For example, when discussing features like AI-powered writing assistants, some members have reflected on how they consider themselves novice writers and how useful they find our thought-starters and suggested message drafts. When I hear these sentiments, it gives me confidence that the products we are building are helping make their lives easier, taking them a step closer to their goals and, in turn, making our jobs and purpose more meaningful.”

User Focused Online Experiences

Prashanthi’s answers show the value of a user-centric approach to everything we do online. Anchoring your content strategy to your mission, cultivating the quality of empathy, and listening to your site visitors is important.

The information she shared is adaptable to any scenario in online marketing whether that business is sales, content, recipes or reviews.

I have 25 years hands-on experience in SEO and have kept on  top of the evolution of search every step ...

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Emory Law News Center

A message from the dean and provost on rankings.

Dear Emory Law Community:    

US News & World Report has released its Best Law School rankings, and Emory University School of Law has been slated as #42 among the nearly 200 ranked schools. No single ranking can hope to capture the true value of any school’s law degree , and we are proud of the real story of Emory Law—the one this ranking does not fully tell but that is expressed in our graduates’ outstanding career paths, our leading scholarship, and our recognition as one of the country’s top law schools by the peer experts who rated Emory #19 in the US. At the same time, we know that many prospective law students use this source, and we remain committed to earning broad recognition for excellence in this and other measures of law school success. The work we have been doing, and the plans that are being formalized by our incoming dean, have set us on the trajectory to achieve these goals.    

  Here’s what is important to know.    

There is power in an Emory Law degree. Our students are graduating and getting jobs at the top firms in the country.

• 97% of Emory Law’s class of 2023 secured employment within 10 months of graduation— the highest employment level in more than a decade—with 94% in JD-preferred or bar-required positions (also known as “Gold Standard” positions).  
• Emory Law class of 2023 graduates had more long-term, bar-passage required/JD-preferred jobs (242) than any other Georgia law school.  
• Emory ranks 22 nd among U.S. law schools in the percentage of graduates at the largest 100 firms , up from 24th last year.   
• In fiscal year 2023, Emory Law graduates had 41 promotions to partner and counsel in Am Law 200 firms, more than other law schools in the state.   

  An Emory Law education is valuable in both how it prepares students for practice and in how our graduates are perceived. Emory Law consistently outperforms peers on our reputation score among peers, judges, and practitioners. In the 2025 ranking:         

• Emory Law’s reputational ranking improved by one spot to #19 in the country, based on the views of our peer academics.  
• Emory Law maintained its #22 ranking as measured by the views of lawyers and judges.  
• Emory Law achieved top 25 recognition in Business and Corporate Law (#22), Contracts/Commercial Law (#21), Constitutional Law (#25), and Health Law (#21).    

The US News   methodology emphasizes bar passage rates, and this is an important measure of a law school’s success. But the methodology does not consider factors such as the diversity and ambitions of law school students.    

• Our student body is highly diverse, including students drawn from across the country and around the world. More than 50 percent of our graduates are employed and sit for a bar exam outside of Georgia. Our graduates sat for the bar in 25 different states within the country.
• In the July 2023 bar results, Emory Law graduates of the class of 2023 achieved an 89.4% first time pass rate on the Georgia Bar exam.    
• The law school’s most recent ultimate bar passage data, for the class of 2021, shows that more than 95% of our graduates pass a bar within two years.   

Focus on Student Success    

The law school and the university are committed to ensuring that Emory Law’s outstanding educational programs and excellent student outcomes place it among the top law schools in the United States. This commitment is driving our implementation of new student-focused programs.      

For example, this year the law school launched the   Bar & Academic Success at Emory   ( BASE) pilot program. The   BASE   program offers our 1L students a chance to review and deepen their understanding of doctrines introduced in the first year of law school, as well as to improve their mastery of   the skills necessary for success on law school examinations and the bar exam. This important new initiative—created, run, and supported by law school faculty for the benefit of our students—is the first of its kind at Emory Law.       

A search is underway for a new faculty Director of Bar Success. This person will work closely with the Associate Dean, faculty, and administration to develop and implement new courses and activities to reinforce the knowledge and skills necessary for success in law school and on current and future bar examinations, such as the NextGen bar.

In addition, the faculty has overwhelmingly adopted a comprehensive set of initiatives on student flourishing proposed by a committee chaired by our incoming dean. Those initiatives will go into effect with the 1L class entering in August.  

As part of the Emory community, you are a participant in our success, and we count on your input and support. As always, reach out to us at [email protected] or [email protected] to share your ideas.

Thank you for supporting us in our ambitious plans for Emory Law.

Mary Anne Bobinski, Dean and Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law

Ravi Bellamkonda, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

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The Effect of COVID-19 on Education

Jacob hoofman.

a Wayne State University School of Medicine, 540 East Canfield, Detroit, MI 48201, USA

Elizabeth Secord

b Department of Pediatrics, Wayne Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Pediatrics Wayne State University, 400 Mack Avenue, Detroit, MI 48201, USA

COVID-19 has changed education for learners of all ages. Preliminary data project educational losses at many levels and verify the increased anxiety and depression associated with the changes, but there are not yet data on long-term outcomes. Guidance from oversight organizations regarding the safety and efficacy of new delivery modalities for education have been quickly forged. It is no surprise that the socioeconomic gaps and gaps for special learners have widened. The medical profession and other professions that teach by incrementally graduated internships are also severely affected and have had to make drastic changes.

• • Virtual learning has become a norm during COVID-19.
• • Children requiring special learning services, those living in poverty, and those speaking English as a second language have lost more from the pandemic educational changes.
• • For children with attention deficit disorder and no comorbidities, virtual learning has sometimes been advantageous.
• • Math learning scores are more likely to be affected than language arts scores by pandemic changes.
• • School meals, access to friends, and organized activities have also been lost with the closing of in-person school.

The transition to an online education during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may bring about adverse educational changes and adverse health consequences for children and young adult learners in grade school, middle school, high school, college, and professional schools. The effects may differ by age, maturity, and socioeconomic class. At this time, we have few data on outcomes, but many oversight organizations have tried to establish guidelines, expressed concerns, and extrapolated from previous experiences.

General educational losses and disparities

Many researchers are examining how the new environment affects learners’ mental, physical, and social health to help compensate for any losses incurred by this pandemic and to better prepare for future pandemics. There is a paucity of data at this juncture, but some investigators have extrapolated from earlier school shutdowns owing to hurricanes and other natural disasters. 1

Inclement weather closures are estimated in some studies to lower middle school math grades by 0.013 to 0.039 standard deviations and natural disaster closures by up to 0.10 standard deviation decreases in overall achievement scores. 2 The data from inclement weather closures did show a more significant decrease for children dependent on school meals, but generally the data were not stratified by socioeconomic differences. 3 , 4 Math scores are impacted overall more negatively by school absences than English language scores for all school closures. 4 , 5

The Northwest Evaluation Association is a global nonprofit organization that provides research-based assessments and professional development for educators. A team of researchers at Stanford University evaluated Northwest Evaluation Association test scores for students in 17 states and the District of Columbia in the Fall of 2020 and estimated that the average student had lost one-third of a year to a full year's worth of learning in reading, and about three-quarters of a year to more than 1 year in math since schools closed in March 2020. 5

With school shifted from traditional attendance at a school building to attendance via the Internet, families have come under new stressors. It is increasingly clear that families depended on schools for much more than math and reading. Shelter, food, health care, and social well-being are all part of what children and adolescents, as well as their parents or guardians, depend on schools to provide. 5 , 6

Many families have been impacted negatively by the loss of wages, leading to food insecurity and housing insecurity; some of loss this is a consequence of the need for parents to be at home with young children who cannot attend in-person school. 6 There is evidence that this economic instability is leading to an increase in depression and anxiety. 7 In 1 survey, 34.71% of parents reported behavioral problems in their children that they attributed to the pandemic and virtual schooling. 8

Children have been infected with and affected by coronavirus. In the United States, 93,605 students tested positive for COVID-19, and it was reported that 42% were Hispanic/Latino, 32% were non-Hispanic White, and 17% were non-Hispanic Black, emphasizing a disproportionate effect for children of color. 9 COVID infection itself is not the only issue that affects children’s health during the pandemic. School-based health care and school-based meals are lost when school goes virtual and children of lower socioeconomic class are more severely affected by these losses. Although some districts were able to deliver school meals, school-based health care is a primary source of health care for many children and has left some chronic conditions unchecked during the pandemic. 10

Many families report that the stress of the pandemic has led to a poorer diet in children with an increase in the consumption of sweet and fried foods. 11 , 12 Shelter at home orders and online education have led to fewer exercise opportunities. Research carried out by Ammar and colleagues 12 found that daily sitting had increased from 5 to 8 hours a day and binge eating, snacking, and the number of meals were all significantly increased owing to lockdown conditions and stay-at-home initiatives. There is growing evidence in both animal and human models that diets high in sugar and fat can play a detrimental role in cognition and should be of increased concern in light of the pandemic. 13

The family stress elicited by the COVID-19 shutdown is a particular concern because of compiled evidence that adverse life experiences at an early age are associated with an increased likelihood of mental health issues as an adult. 14 There is early evidence that children ages 6 to 18 years of age experienced a significant increase in their expression of “clinginess, irritability, and fear” during the early pandemic school shutdowns. 15 These emotions associated with anxiety may have a negative impact on the family unit, which was already stressed owing to the pandemic.

Another major concern is the length of isolation many children have had to endure since the pandemic began and what effects it might have on their ability to socialize. The school, for many children, is the agent for forming their social connections as well as where early social development occurs. 16 Noting that academic performance is also declining the pandemic may be creating a snowball effect, setting back children without access to resources from which they may never recover, even into adulthood.

Predictions from data analysis of school absenteeism, summer breaks, and natural disaster occurrences are imperfect for the current situation, but all indications are that we should not expect all children and adolescents to be affected equally. 4 , 5 Although some children and adolescents will likely suffer no long-term consequences, COVID-19 is expected to widen the already existing educational gap from socioeconomic differences, and children with learning differences are expected to suffer more losses than neurotypical children. 4 , 5

Special education and the COVID-19 pandemic

Although COVID-19 has affected all levels of education reception and delivery, children with special needs have been more profoundly impacted. Children in the United States who have special needs have legal protection for appropriate education by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. 17 , 18 Collectively, this legislation is meant to allow for appropriate accommodations, services, modifications, and specialized academic instruction to ensure that “every child receives a free appropriate public education . . . in the least restrictive environment.” 17

Children with autism usually have applied behavioral analysis (ABA) as part of their individualized educational plan. ABA therapists for autism use a technique of discrete trial training that shapes and rewards incremental changes toward new behaviors. 19 Discrete trial training involves breaking behaviors into small steps and repetition of rewards for small advances in the steps toward those behaviors. It is an intensive one-on-one therapy that puts a child and therapist in close contact for many hours at a time, often 20 to 40 hours a week. This therapy works best when initiated at a young age in children with autism and is often initiated in the home. 19

Because ABA workers were considered essential workers from the early days of the pandemic, organizations providing this service had the responsibility and the freedom to develop safety protocols for delivery of this necessary service and did so in conjunction with certifying boards. 20

Early in the pandemic, there were interruptions in ABA followed by virtual visits, and finally by in-home therapy with COVID-19 isolation precautions. 21 Although the efficacy of virtual visits for ABA therapy would empirically seem to be inferior, there are few outcomes data available. The balance of safety versus efficacy quite early turned to in-home services with interruptions owing to illness and decreased therapist availability owing to the pandemic. 21 An overarching concern for children with autism is the possible loss of a window of opportunity to intervene early. Families of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder report increased stress compared with families of children with other disabilities before the pandemic, and during the pandemic this burden has increased with the added responsibility of monitoring in-home schooling. 20

Early data on virtual schooling children with attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit with hyperactivity (ADHD) shows that adolescents with ADD/ADHD found the switch to virtual learning more anxiety producing and more challenging than their peers. 22 However, according to a study in Ireland, younger children with ADD/ADHD and no other neurologic or psychiatric diagnoses who were stable on medication tended to report less anxiety with at-home schooling and their parents and caregivers reported improved behavior during the pandemic. 23 An unexpected benefit of shelter in home versus shelter in place may be to identify these stressors in face-to-face school for children with ADD/ADHD. If children with ADD/ADHD had an additional diagnosis of autism or depression, they reported increased anxiety with the school shutdown. 23 , 24

Much of the available literature is anticipatory guidance for in-home schooling of children with disabilities rather than data about schooling during the pandemic. The American Academy of Pediatrics published guidance advising that, because 70% of students with ADHD have other conditions, such as learning differences, oppositional defiant disorder, or depression, they may have very different responses to in home schooling which are a result of the non-ADHD diagnosis, for example, refusal to attempt work for children with oppositional defiant disorder, severe anxiety for those with depression and or anxiety disorders, and anxiety and perseveration for children with autism. 25 Children and families already stressed with learning differences have had substantial challenges during the COVID-19 school closures.

High school, depression, and COVID-19

High schoolers have lost a great deal during this pandemic. What should have been a time of establishing more independence has been hampered by shelter-in-place recommendations. Graduations, proms, athletic events, college visits, and many other social and educational events have been altered or lost and cannot be recaptured.

Adolescents reported higher rates of depression and anxiety associated with the pandemic, and in 1 study 14.4% of teenagers report post-traumatic stress disorder, whereas 40.4% report having depression and anxiety. 26 In another survey adolescent boys reported a significant decrease in life satisfaction from 92% before COVID to 72% during lockdown conditions. For adolescent girls, the decrease in life satisfaction was from 81% before COVID to 62% during the pandemic, with the oldest teenage girls reporting the lowest life satisfaction values during COVID-19 restrictions. 27 During the school shutdown for COVID-19, 21% of boys and 27% of girls reported an increase in family arguments. 26 Combine all of these reports with decreasing access to mental health services owing to pandemic restrictions and it becomes a complicated matter for parents to address their children's mental health needs as well as their educational needs. 28

A study conducted in Norway measured aspects of socialization and mood changes in adolescents during the pandemic. The opportunity for prosocial action was rated on a scale of 1 (not at all) to 6 (very much) based on how well certain phrases applied to them, for example, “I comforted a friend yesterday,” “Yesterday I did my best to care for a friend,” and “Yesterday I sent a message to a friend.” They also ranked mood by rating items on a scale of 1 (not at all) to 5 (very well) as items reflected their mood. 29 They found that adolescents showed an overall decrease in empathic concern and opportunity for prosocial actions, as well as a decrease in mood ratings during the pandemic. 29

A survey of 24,155 residents of Michigan projected an escalation of suicide risk for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender youth as well as those youth questioning their sexual orientation (LGBTQ) associated with increased social isolation. There was also a 66% increase in domestic violence for LGBTQ youth during shelter in place. 30 LGBTQ youth are yet another example of those already at increased risk having disproportionate effects of the pandemic.

Increased social media use during COVID-19, along with traditional forms of education moving to digital platforms, has led to the majority of adolescents spending significantly more time in front of screens. Excessive screen time is well-known to be associated with poor sleep, sedentary habits, mental health problems, and physical health issues. 31 With decreased access to physical activity, especially in crowded inner-city areas, and increased dependence on screen time for schooling, it is more difficult to craft easy solutions to the screen time issue.

During these times, it is more important than ever for pediatricians to check in on the mental health of patients with queries about how school is going, how patients are keeping contact with peers, and how are they processing social issues related to violence. Queries to families about the need for assistance with food insecurity, housing insecurity, and access to mental health services are necessary during this time of public emergency.

Medical school and COVID-19

Although medical school is an adult schooling experience, it affects not only the medical profession and our junior colleagues, but, by extrapolation, all education that requires hands-on experience or interning, and has been included for those reasons.

In the new COVID-19 era, medical schools have been forced to make drastic and quick changes to multiple levels of their curriculum to ensure both student and patient safety during the pandemic. Students entering their clinical rotations have had the most drastic alteration to their experience.

COVID-19 has led to some of the same changes high schools and colleges have adopted, specifically, replacement of large in-person lectures with small group activities small group discussion and virtual lectures. 32 The transition to an online format for medical education has been rapid and impacted both students and faculty. 33 , 34 In a survey by Singh and colleagues, 33 of the 192 students reporting 43.9% found online lectures to be poorer than physical classrooms during the pandemic. In another report by Shahrvini and colleagues, 35 of 104 students surveyed, 74.5% students felt disconnected from their medical school and their peers and 43.3% felt that they were unprepared for their clerkships. Although there are no pre-COVID-19 data for comparison, it is expected that the COVID-19 changes will lead to increased insecurity and feelings of poor preparation for clinical work.

Gross anatomy is a well-established tradition within the medical school curriculum and one that is conducted almost entirely in person and in close quarters around a cadaver. Harmon and colleagues 36 surveyed 67 gross anatomy educators and found that 8% were still holding in-person sessions and 34 ± 43% transitioned to using cadaver images and dissecting videos that could be accessed through the Internet.

Many third- and fourth-year medical students have seen periods of cancellation for clinical rotations and supplementation with online learning, telemedicine, or virtual rounds owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. 37 A study from Shahrvini and colleagues 38 found that an unofficial document from Reddit (a widely used social network platform with a subgroup for medical students and residents) reported that 75% of medical schools had canceled clinical activities for third- and fourth-year students for some part of 2020. In another survey by Harries and colleagues, 39 of the 741 students who responded, 93.7% were not involved in clinical rotations with in-person patient contact. The reactions of students varied, with 75.8% admitting to agreeing with the decision, 34.7% feeling guilty, and 27.0% feeling relieved. 39 In the same survey, 74.7% of students felt that their medical education had been disrupted, 84.1% said they felt increased anxiety, and 83.4% would accept the risk of COVID-19 infection if they were able to return to the clinical setting. 39

Since the start of the pandemic, medical schools have had to find new and innovative ways to continue teaching and exposing students to clinical settings. The use of electronic conferencing services has been critical to continuing education. One approach has been to turn to online applications like Google Hangouts, which come at no cost and offer a wide variety of tools to form an integrative learning environment. 32 , 37 , 40 Schools have also adopted a hybrid model of teaching where lectures can be prerecorded then viewed by the student asynchronously on their own time followed by live virtual lectures where faculty can offer question-and-answer sessions related to the material. By offering this new format, students have been given more flexibility in terms of creating a schedule that suits their needs and may decrease stress. 37

Although these changes can be a hurdle to students and faculty, it might prove to be beneficial for the future of medical training in some ways. Telemedicine is a growing field, and the American Medical Association and other programs have endorsed its value. 41 Telemedicine visits can still be used to take a history, conduct a basic visual physical examination, and build rapport, as well as performing other aspects of the clinical examination during a pandemic, and will continue to be useful for patients unable to attend regular visits at remote locations. Learning effectively now how to communicate professionally and carry out telemedicine visits may better prepare students for a future where telemedicine is an expectation and allow students to learn the limitations as well as the advantages of this modality. 41

Pandemic changes have strongly impacted the process of college applications, medical school applications, and residency applications. 32 For US medical residencies, 72% of applicants will, if the pattern from 2016 to 2019 continues, move between states or countries. 42 This level of movement is increasingly dangerous given the spread of COVID-19 and the lack of currently accepted procedures to carry out such a mass migration safely. The same follows for medical schools and universities.

We need to accept and prepare for the fact that medial students as well as other learners who require in-person training may lack some skills when they enter their profession. These skills will have to be acquired during a later phase of training. We may have less skilled entry-level resident physicians and nurses in our hospitals and in other clinical professions as well.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected and will continue to affect the delivery of knowledge and skills at all levels of education. Although many children and adult learners will likely compensate for this interruption of traditional educational services and adapt to new modalities, some will struggle. The widening of the gap for those whose families cannot absorb the teaching and supervision of education required for in-home education because they lack the time and skills necessary are not addressed currently. The gap for those already at a disadvantage because of socioeconomic class, language, and special needs are most severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic school closures and will have the hardest time compensating. As pediatricians, it is critical that we continue to check in with our young patients about how they are coping and what assistance we can guide them toward in our communities.

Clinics care points

• • Learners and educators at all levels of education have been affected by COVID-19 restrictions with rapid adaptations to virtual learning platforms.
• • The impact of COVID-19 on learners is not evenly distributed and children of racial minorities, those who live in poverty, those requiring special education, and children who speak English as a second language are more negatively affected by the need for remote learning.
• • Math scores are more impacted than language arts scores by previous school closures and thus far by these shutdowns for COVID-19.
• • Anxiety and depression have increased in children and particularly in adolescents as a result of COVID-19 itself and as a consequence of school changes.
• • Pediatricians should regularly screen for unmet needs in their patients during the pandemic, such as food insecurity with the loss of school meals, an inability to adapt to remote learning and increased computer time, and heightened anxiety and depression as results of school changes.

The authors have nothing to disclose.

Hartzell in D.C. Seeks Congressional Support of Public AI Research and Workforce Initiatives

WASHINGTON, D.C. — With society at the forefront of an AI revolution, University of Texas at Austin President Jay Hartzell met with members of Texas’ congressional delegation, seeking support for the University’s artificial intelligence initiatives to dramatically expand the AI workforce and conduct critical research. Hartzell’s first trip to Capitol Hill as president underscored the significance and breadth of UT’s AI expertise and its importance to the future of the U.S. economy, national security and defense.

“We have the largest GPU cluster in all of academia. We are home to the National Science Foundation’s Institute for Machine Learning. And we are the headquarters of the Army Futures Command, which works closely with Texas Robotics and other disciplines,” Hartzell said during a reception at the Capitol on Tuesday night. “One challenge we have is the escalating cost of competing with the private sector. It is important that our country invests in public sector AI, and I am grateful to have support of key members of our Texas delegation, who hold seats on some of the most powerful committees in Washington.”

AI initiatives in public research universities such as UT are more often open and act as an enabler for the public good than those in the private sector. Yet, top AI talent has increasingly migrated to the higher-paying private sector. A 2023 survey published in Science.org found that nearly 70% of people with Ph.D.s in AI go to work in the private sector, compared with 21% two decades ago.

“UT has emerged as a leader in AI workforce development and research, and both of these are critical to America’s national security and defense,” said U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. “I look forward to working with President Hartzell to continue building UT Austin’s research capacity and ensuring the next generation of researchers and scientists are from Texas.”

In 2023, UT launched a Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence (MSAI), the first large-scale degree program of its kind and the only master’s degree program in AI from a top-ranked institution. Combined with UT’s existing deep portfolio of AI degrees and programming, the University now has the ability to contribute to America’s AI workforce at an unrivaled capacity.

UT’s AI applications across defense and national security range from robots in conventional warfare to cybersecurity and cyberwarfare. The University is working with the Army Futures Command for rapid adoption and integration of AI systems and robotics for autonomous vehicles in a combat environment that could perform tasks such as search and rescue, mine-clearing operations, firefighting, and surveillance and reconnaissance.

UT’s Strauss Center for International Security and Law is conducting partially classified research on rules of engagement for AI-powered military systems and is advising the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) on AI issues, including President Joe Biden’s executive order on the safe, secure and trustworthy development and use of AI.

“The University of Texas is leading the nation in AI research. It is critical to keep on pace with these developing technologies,” said U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, a member of the House Appropriations and Homeland Security committees. “I look forward to working alongside my colleagues in Congress and President Hartzell on this important initiative.”

Hartzell’s message was bolstered by University advertising in two prominent Washington Metro stations, dubbed “Metro Station Domination,” promoting UT as “the epicenter of AI excellence.” UT is uniquely positioned to lead across the spectrum of AI applications that align with the University’s top academic and research strengths. Hartzell has declared 2024 as the “year of AI” at UT.

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America's airports really are terrible — and the latest Skytrax rankings are proof

• Skytrax released its annual ranking of the world's best airports, with Doha, Qatar at the top. 
• However, no US airport made the top 20.
• The highest-ranked, Seattle-Tacoma, was beaten by the likes of London Heathrow and Vancouver. 

Skytrax has released its annual ranking of the world's best airports — and if you're a frequent flyer it may come as little surprise that none in the US made the top 20.

The US can't even claim to have North America's best airport, given that Vancouver is in 17th place.

Seattle-Tacoma was rated the best airport in the US for the third year running. But the Alaska Airlines hub only managed a lackluster 24th position, down six places from last year.

Related stories

It was followed by Houston Hobby in 29th spot, and New York's LaGuardia at 33rd — a big jump from 57 last year.

There was some positive news, as the US can lay claim to one global gong: the world's best new airport terminal. That was picked up by Newark Liberty's Terminal A , which opened in January at a cost of $2.7 billion.

Along with LaGuardia's Terminal B, the two New York City-area airports are the only ones in North America with terminals ranked five stars by Skytrax. The other two are in Paris and China.

But the US is still far off the world's best airports. This year's winner is Qatar's Hamad International Airport , pushing Singapore off the top spot. Seoul Incheon took third place, up from fourth.

Asian airports accounted for the top five, with Tokyo's Haneda and Narita airports in fourth and fifth.

Paris Charles de Gaulle is in sixth, followed by Dubai, Munich, Zurich, and Istanbul.

Airports in Australia (Melbourne), Finland, and Italy (Rome Fiumicino) were among the others in the top 20.

The US was even beaten by the UK, as London Heathrow gained one place to 21st.

But there's reason to hope that things could soon improve given New York's JFK is undergoing a $19 billion transformation.

Watch: Thousands of bags pile up at US airports after flight cancellations

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• The 10 Largest Hispanic Origin Groups: Characteristics, Rankings, Top Counties

Table of Contents

• II. Demographics
• III. Educational Attainment
• IV. English Proficiency and Citizenship
• V. Economics and Health Insurance
• VI. Regional Distribution of Hispanic Origin Groups
• VII. Changes in the Characteristics of the Hispanic Population, 2000 to 2010

I. Overview

Among the 50.7 million Hispanics in the United States, nearly two-thirds (65%), or 33 million, self-identify as being of Mexican origin, according to tabulations of the 2010 American Community Survey (ACS) by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center. No other Hispanic subgroup rivals the size of the Mexican-origin population. Puerto Ricans, the nation’s second largest Hispanic origin group, make up just 9% of the total Hispanic population in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. 1

Overall, the 10 largest Hispanic origin groups—Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Salvadorans, Dominicans, Guatemalans, Colombians, Hondurans, Ecuadorians and Peruvians—make up 92% of the U.S. Hispanic population. 2 Six Hispanic origin groups have populations greater than 1 million.

Hispanic origin groups differ from each other in a number of ways. For instance, U.S. Hispanics of Mexican origin have the lowest median age, at 25 years, while Hispanics of Cuban origin have the highest median age, at 40 years. Colombians are the most likely to have a college degree (32%) while Salvadorans are the least likely (7%). Ecuadorians have the highest annual median household income ($50,000) while Dominicans have the lowest ($34,000). Half of Hondurans do not have health insurance—the highest share among Hispanic origin groups. By contrast, just 15% of Puerto Ricans do not have health insurance.

Top Regions and Counties

Hispanic subgroups also differ in their states, regions and counties of geographic concentration. Mexicans, Salvadorans and Guatemalans are largely concentrated in western states, while Cubans, Colombians, Hondurans and Peruvians are largely concentrated in the South. The largest numbers of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Ecuadorians are in the Northeast.

The nation’s Cuban population is the most concentrated. Nearly half (48%) live in one county—Miami-Dade County in Florida. Miami-Dade County is also home to the nation’s largest Colombian, Honduran and Peruvian communities.

For Mexicans, Salvadorans and Guatemalans, Los Angeles County in California contains each group’s largest community. Los Angeles County alone contains 9% of the nation’s Hispanic population. Bronx County in New York contains the largest Puerto Rican and Dominican populations. And Queens County in New York contains the largest Ecuadorian population.

Changes since 2000

This report also includes an analysis of changes in the characteristics of the 10 largest Hispanic origin groups from 2000 to 2010.

During the decade, the foreign-born share of each major Hispanic origin group declined. Among all Hispanics, the share foreign born fell from 40% in 2000 to 37% in 2010. Meanwhile the share holding U.S. citizenship increased from 71% in 2000 to 74% in 2010. Among all foreign-born Hispanics, the share holding U.S. citizenship increased from 28% in 2000 to 29% in 2010.

Hispanics have made gains in terms of their educational attainment during the decade. In each of the 10 groups, the share ages 25 and older with a college degree increased. Among all Hispanics, the share with a college degree increased from 10% in 2000 to 13% in 2010.

Defining Hispanic Origin

Hispanic origin is based on self-described family ancestry or place of birth in response to a question on the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Ancestry is not necessarily the same as the place of birth of the respondent, nor is it indicative of immigrant or citizenship status. For example a U.S. citizen born in Los Angeles of Mexican immigrant parents or grandparents may (or may not) identify his or her Hispanic origin as Mexico. Likewise, some immigrants born in Mexico may identify another country as their origin depending on the place of birth of their ancestors.

However, most Hispanic origin groups had lower median household incomes in 2010 than in 2000 (adjusted to 2010 dollars). Overall, median household income among Hispanics fell from $43,100 in 2000 to $40,000 in 2010—a decrease of 7%. And the share living in poverty increased two percentage points, from 23% in 2000 to 25% in 2010. 3 Among all U.S. households, median household income (in 2010 dollars) fell from $54,200 in 2000 to $49,800 in 2010—a drop of $4,400 or 8%. 4 The poverty rate for all Americans increased by three percentage points over the same period.

Hispanics are the nation’s largest minority group, representing 16.4% of the U.S. population. By comparison, non-Hispanic blacks, who are the nation’s second largest minority group, represent 12.3% of the nation’s population and non-Hispanic Asians rank third at 4.7%. 5

Hispanics are also the nation’s largest immigrant group and one of its fastest growing populations. According to the Census Bureau, Hispanic population growth between 2000 and 2010 accounted for more than half of the nation’s population growth ( Passel, Cohn and Lopez, 2011 ). Among the nation’s 40 million immigrants, nearly half (47%) are Hispanic ( Pew Hispanic Center, 2012 ).

2011 ). Among the nation’s 40 million immigrants, nearly half (47%) are Hispanic ( Pew Hispanic Center, 2012 ).

This report compares the 10 largest Hispanic origin groups in the U.S. on several characteristics. In addition, accompanying this report are 10 statistical profiles —one for each Hispanic origin group. Each statistical profile describes the demographic, employment and income characteristics of a Hispanic origin population residing in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The characteristics of an origin group are also compared with all Hispanics and the U.S. population overall.

This report uses data from the 2010 American Community Survey (ACS), the 2010 U.S. Census and the 2000 U.S. Census (5% IPUMS). The accompanying Hispanic origin profiles use data from the 2010 ACS.

About this Report

This report examines the Hispanic population of the United States by its 10 largest origin groups.

The data for this report are derived from the 2010 American Community Survey (1% IPUMS), which provides detailed geographic, demographic and economic characteristics for each group. The 2000 Census (5% IPUMS) provides data for comparisons in the summary.

Accompanying this report are profiles of the 10 largest Hispanic origin groups— Mexicans , Puerto Ricans , Salvadorans , Cubans , Dominicans , Guatemalans , Colombians , Hondurans , Ecuadorians and Peruvians . Also accompanying this report is an interactive graphic ranking these groups on several characteristics.

About the Authors

Seth Motel is a research assistant at the Pew Hispanic Center. Motel earned his B.A. in political science from Brown University.

Eileen Patten is a research assistant at the Pew Hispanic Center. Patten earned her B.A. in sociology and English from the University of Michigan.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Paul Taylor for editorial guidance. Mark Lopez and Rakesh Kochhar provided comments. Antonio Rodriguez checked numbers in the report. Molly Rohal was the copy editor.

• Population estimates presented in this report are for Hispanics living in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Those living in Puerto Rico are not included in population estimates for the nation’s Puerto Rican origin population. According to the 2010 Puerto Rican Community Survey, some 3.7 million people lived in Puerto Rico. ↩
• Percentages are computed before numbers are rounded. ↩
• Throughout this report, all poverty figures reflect poverty rates. Poverty rate is based on individuals in housing units and non-institutional group quarters. The poverty universe excludes children under age 15 who are not related to the householder, people living in institutional group quarters and people living in college dormitories or military barracks. For detailed information on how poverty status is determined, see http://usa.ipums.org/usa-action/variables/POVERTY#description_tab . Due to the way in which the IPUMS assigns poverty values, these data will differ from those that might be provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. ↩
• These results are based on Pew Hispanic Center tabulations from the 2010 American Community Survey and differ from those reported by the U.S. Census Bureau ( http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/p60-239.pdf ). ↩
• Reference to whites, blacks and Asians refers to the non-Hispanic components of each population. ↩

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We are facing a critical time in our nation’s history as we encounter rapidly evolving challenges in health care, our environment, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Fortunately, America’s leading research universities are generating some of society’s biggest breakthroughs and technological advancements that improve our quality of life. However, the United States risks falling behind in innovation and losing its place at the forefront of solutions to the most pressing issues without continued funding for research.

The recent announcement that research funding awarded to the University of South Florida last year reached a record $692 million is promising news for the Tampa Bay region and the state of Florida. The continuing impact of USF’s research enterprise was one of the primary reasons we were invited last year to join the Association of American Universities (AAU), a prestigious group of the top 71 public and private research universities in the U.S. and Canada.

That’s an important point, as federal agencies, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Defense rely on universities to perform critical research in the national interest, especially AAU member institutions, which collectively conduct 64% of all federally funded research.

None of the advancements made through this research would be possible without resources — both human and financial — the world-renowned expertise of our faculty and the dollars we receive from the federal government. As members of Congress will soon begin conversations about their next budget, it’s important to prioritize the ability of universities nationwide to solve even more grand challenges, meet workforce needs and continue to grow the economy, which all depend on greater levels of federal support, especially in science and technology.

That support also is essential to the United States’ ability to remain a global leader in science and innovation. In the mid-1960s, the overall share of gross domestic product (GDP) that the federal government invested in research and development was approximately 2%. Since then, this share has declined to less than 1%. At the same time, other countries, such as China, have increased their research and development investments as a share of GDP.

In fiscal year 2023, more than half of USF’s research funding, $392 million, was allocated by federal agencies, and there is widespread benefit to those federal investments. According to the NIH, every $1 of its funding generates approximately $2.46 in economic activity. NIH funding supports a wide range of important USF Health initiatives, such as groundbreaking type 1 diabetes research and studies on the impact of sleep on health.

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Of particular importance to USF’s efforts in science and technology is the NSF, which is at the heart of the nation’s scientific research enterprise. Among the $95 million in competitively awarded grants from the NSF that USF has received in recent years is an award of $4.4 million to support our Cybersecurity Research and Education for Service in Government program. This initiative enables USF to recruit, mentor and provide scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students to prepare them for cybersecurity roles in government. It is supported by the federal CyberCorps Scholarship for Service program, which requires scholarship recipients, following graduation, to work in a governmental cybersecurity role for the same duration as their scholarship support.

We also host multiple federally funded projects at our university that are focused on making our coastal communities more resilient to powerful storm surges and sea-level rise — an urgent issue at the national level, but especially for the state of Florida and our Tampa Bay region.

For example, supported by a $20 million grant through the NSF’s Coastlines and People program, a USF-led team of researchers is developing a standardized approach to the protection and replenishment of coral reef and mangrove ecosystems. The program supports efforts to protect the natural, social and economic resources of U.S. coasts and to help create more resilient coastal communities.

There are many more examples of how our dedicated faculty, staff and students are addressing critical challenges. As USF concludes its first year as an AAU member, I look forward to working with our local members of Congress to grow our nation’s investment in research and development and to return a greater share of those federal dollars to our state and region.

Rhea Law is the president of the University of South Florida.

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