Daily Lumina News 020323

The new data are clear: More Americans are learning and training beyond high school to pave powerful paths to well-paid jobs.
But racial disparities continue to persist in attainment between Black, Hispanic, Native American, and Alaska Native adults and their white and Asian American peers. Ensuring plentiful opportunities and equitable outcomes for everyone who wants to learn is the only way to achieve lasting results.

More than 18 million college students received federal COVID-19 emergency funds in the last two years—money that helped them stay in college and cover the cost of basic needs.
Students received $1,507, on average, in emergency aid, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Education.

Federal financial aid helps make college dreams possible. But, for many reasons, students do not always apply for it. That oversight may shortchange their postsecondary opportunities.
Students who graduated from high school in 2022 left about $3.6 billion in Pell Grants unclaimed by not completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, states a new report from the National College Attainment Network.

Across higher ed, there’s a growing recognition of the connection between students’ well-being and their success in the classroom.
Some colleges and faculty members are creating or considering new policies to support students when they need a day to tend to their mental health. But providing the academic accommodations that many students are calling for requires instructors to shoulder new responsibilities and change old habits and standards.

Many prisoners struggle to learn, with prison often magnifying their problems and making stressful, difficult situations worse. Higher education is a way to directly challenge institutionalization, giving incarcerated individuals the tools to defeat criminality.
Lyle C. May, a prison journalist in North Carolina, describes in this essay how gaining access to education on death row gave him the tools to fight back against policies restricting educational access.

The skills gap, that chasm between the needs of the labor market and the capabilities of the available workforce, is one of the most pressing threats to Michigan’s economy.
But while Michigan is spending millions to close the gap by expanding access to college credentials and good jobs, some education watchers say those strategies will fall short without a crucial, under-the-radar reform effort: transforming the delivery of developmental education.