Daily Lumina News 020422

Waukecha Wilkerson is a mom, a small business owner, and a tutor when any one of her three kids is struggling with math homework. She's also a part-time student at Sacramento State in California.
Being a student parent or student caregiver comes with its own unique challenges—challenges not every college is equipped to help with. Researchers, policy experts, and student parents offer advice on how to know if a college is a good fit.

Calculus is expected to be difficult; it should not be impossible. Too often, however, this course becomes a gatekeeper that pushes students out of careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.
New research reveals how interactive classrooms, instructor diversity, and curriculum modifications can make a big difference in calculus success, while also cultivating a more diverse generation of math and science professionals.

This week, on the first day of Black History Month, dozens of Historically Black Colleges and Universities were swarmed with bomb threats for two days in a row. These followed a series of similar threats made in early January.
HBCU leaders and others reflect on the parallels between the threats to HBCUs and the hostile race relations of the Reconstruction era.

Across the country, college students are seeking mental health therapy on campus in droves, part of a 15-year upswing that has spiked during the pandemic.
Colleges are struggling to keep up with the demand for mental health services. Amid a nationwide shortage of mental health professionals, they are competing with hospital systems and other entities to recruit and retain counselors. Too often, colleges lose.

Throughout the United States, the high school class of 2021 left more than $3.75 billion in federal aid unclaimed, a direct result of not filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
In Louisiana, state officials are getting students excited about what seems like a tedious task by turning it into a competition among high schools.

Many college students lack the necessary support to finish college. For students coming from the foster care system, sometimes there’s no support at all.
A bill in the Colorado legislature aims to improve the odds of success by waiving college tuition and fees for students who were in foster care past the age of 13. The bill also creates liaisons at colleges to help foster youth navigate the process of applying for federal financial aid.