Daily Lumina News 031723

New research from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center says the number of students earning undergraduate degrees fell by 1.6 percent last year, reversing nearly a decade of steady growth.
But is this downturn a temporary setback—simply more fallout from the disruption of the pandemic? Or does it mark the beginning of a lasting trend?

When Reagan Gonzalez began applying to law schools, she never imagined that she would have to research the laws of the states to which she was thinking about moving.
But this year’s wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and proposals—the American Civil Liberties Union is currently tracking 388 bills—wound up shaping her decision in ways that she didn’t anticipate. More students are finding themselves in the same predicament, experts say.

A new report summarizes the challenges that community colleges faced during the pandemic and the efforts that helped some institutions survive and thrive.
The study, from the American Association of Community Colleges, concludes with emerging issues for community colleges, including cybersecurity challenges, accreditation, uses of space at campuses and facilities, and growing competition from four-year colleges and the private sector.

Elizabeth Smith, a stay-at-home mom of six in southern Vermont, recently re-enrolled in school when the Community College of Vermont made an offer she couldn't refuse: $3,500 a semester deposited in her bank account, no strings attached.
The Vermont school and other two-year institutions from Maine to Florida are now shelling out money, sometimes in tandem with employers, to enroll students in training programs that prepare them for certain in-demand jobs.

For many students, transferring between community colleges and four-year institutions is sometimes the only path to a bachelor’s degree. Unfortunately, that path becomes less effective when credits completed at a community college are not applied to a degree program at a four-year institution.
Three higher education associations are working on a project to break down those barriers.

Last spring, Dina Sosa Cruz sat with her parents and sister in the family’s living room and reviewed her options: a full academic ride to the University of the District of Columbia, or an apprenticeship in the insurance industry.
The college route meant at the end of four years the 22-year-old would have a degree, some debt, and no work experience. The apprenticeship would leave her with a two-year degree, money in the bank, and training in a profession that appealed to her.