Daily Lumina News 011521

In the days since the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol, the nation has been processing—and trying to figure out what it all means and where to go from here. One question that has emerged: How can schools and colleges foster a stronger sense of civic education and engagement?

Even before the pandemic, there weren’t enough advisers to go around. Now, overstretched high school and college advisers are recognizing additional barriers for their most vulnerable students.
Nothing will replace in-person relationships between students and advisers, but some tools can offer ways to meaningfully engage with students who are learning remotely.

New Mexico has suffered for years with an alarming brain drain, as more talented young people permanently exit the state. Then COVID happened. Suddenly, students began thinking about careers in health care—and staying in their communities.
Julia Palomino describes how the pandemic health crisis and the prospect of college debt prompted her to change career plans for a more stable future in nursing.

Colleges typically relish their associations with powerful people. They welcome departing administration officials with fellowships to their institutes, and they tout alumni who are elected to state or national office.
But in a national crisis, some of the country’s most prestigious universities are being forced to confront their connections to lawmakers who endorsed and amplified the conspiracy theories that resulted in a violent attempt to take over the U.S. Capitol last week.

Every year, thousands of students have high hopes of transferring from California's community colleges to the nine undergraduate campuses of the University of California, the 23 campuses of California State University, or private universities. Many never make it.
California’s legislative and higher education leaders aim to change that trajectory with more and better advising, clearer transfer paths, and innovative dual admission strategies.

When Congress passed a law at the end of 2020 revising the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and funding the government, lawmakers also revised a quarter-century-old provision that prevented incarcerated students from accessing Pell Grants to pay for postsecondary education and training in prison.
The change is something to celebrate: Postsecondary education programs for incarcerated students provide critical skills and opportunities that improve students’ odds of success.