Daily Lumina News 062023

As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to issue rulings in the Harvard University and University of North Carolina admissions cases, anxiety has heightened about the implications for achieving racial justice and equity in higher education.
Those of us who want a higher education system that reflects—and strengthens—the nation must not allow the rulings to sabotage broader efforts to increase the share of Black, Hispanic, Latino, and Native American people with college degrees and other valuable credentials.

While foreign-born applicants who want to work in the United States face red tape and long delays, new “talent visas” in the U.K., Australia, Canada, and elsewhere are luring away people who have some of the world’s most in-demand skills.
Now these countries are homing in on another target: international students being educated at U.S. universities to work in tech and other high-demand fields.

Credential providers should immediately publish data about their costs, associated earnings, completion rates, and other factors to help students understand whether their programs lead to equitable outcomes. That's according to a new report from Credential Engine.
The report also calls on providers to offer students the ability to run “what if” scenarios using real time data so they can learn how to maximize the benefits of their credits.

Young Mexican citizens who return to Mexico—either voluntarily or through deportation—often find it difficult to continue their studies. Some give up, while others have to redo years of coursework just to get back to where they left off in the United States.
A new hour-long special explores all things higher education and what's at stake for people from Spain, China, Mexico, and the United States as they pursue an education beyond high school.

In Texas, state lawmakers recently decided to dismantle offices on college campuses that try to make college campuses more diverse and welcoming to all types of underrepresented students.
Experts worry that a ban on those efforts, combined with the likely end of race-conscious admissions, could cement the impression that students of color are not welcome in the state’s higher education institutions and walk back decades of efforts to build more diverse campuses.

Some colleges are quietly talking about how they will respond if the U.S. Supreme Court, as expected, rules against affirmative action in their admissions programs.
But two options, among others, are available to institutions that want to preserve diversity even if they aren’t allowed to consider race directly in admissions decisions. One policy is a state adopting a percentage plan. The other is increasing the enrollment of community college transfer students.