Daily Lumina News 050720

Faced with uncertainty caused by the coronavirus, more graduating high school seniors are debating whether to take a gap year and delay their college plans.
That raises the question of what all those students might do instead of attending college. Gap years traditionally involve travel abroad, internships, full-time work, or volunteering, which will be off the table if international borders remain closed and jobs prove hard to come by.

As colleges plan for the next academic year, so much is uncertain, including the continuing threat of COVID-19, the health of campus budgets, and the desire of students to enroll.
But institutions across the country know two things for sure: They don’t want to remain fully online come late August, yet they must prepare for that possibility. Can they create a fall semester that will persuade millions of students to return to college, convinced they’re getting their money’s worth?

"Maya" is an undocumented student enrolled at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) as a sociology and labor studies major. Her parents, also undocumented, lost their jobs due to shutdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic. While their unexpected struggles resemble many families’ across the country right now, her family is not eligible to receive the stimulus checks that the U.S. government is disbursing as part of the CARES Act.
UCLA will soon receive nearly $18 million in emergency aid for students from the U.S. Department of Education. For Maya and other students, accessing a portion of that funding could be the difference between leaving college and completing their degree.

Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) made news in April with a broad reboot of its campus-based programs, including slashed tuition and giving students more choice in how they take their courses.
In this podcast, SNHU's Paul LeBlanc discusses what these changes mean for the university and higher education in general.