Daily Lumina News 070722

Did the experience of teaching and learning remotely during COVID-19 make colleges, professors, and students more open to online education? Did it change student expectations about when and how they learn?
Two experts discuss the digital divide (including for adjuncts), the importance of training, and how to ensure online education is a force for equity, not a deterrent to it.

The U.S. House Committee on Appropriations is urging the U.S. Department of Education to no longer allow colleges to have tuition-sharing agreements with for-profit companies that help them run and recruit students into online programs.
The committee took a harsh stance against online program management companies (OPMs), arguing that the tuition-share agreements they hold with colleges create “perverse incentives that drive up costs, waste taxpayer dollars, and rip off students.”

This week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on a case that could forever change the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. The question that hangs in the balance (once again) is the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
DACA has helped many people kick-start lives that once seemed out of reach, providing opportunities to go to college and secure work permits. In this op-ed, José González Camarena of Teach for America shares his own DACA story.

Changing the relationship between historically Black colleges and universities and the media is just one aspect of the work done by Todd Simmons of North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University and other brand leaders.
Experts say that telling an HBCU’s story takes intentionality, buy-in at all levels of the institution, and a clear and dedicated vision.

Women and people of color are underrepresented in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. But an effort called danceLogic in Philadelphia aims to change that through an unusual mix of dance and coding lessons.
Proponents say programs like danceLogic are a win-win, motivating young people to consider promising STEM careers while also diversifying and adding to the STEM workforce pipeline.

Students could have a clearer path to loan forgiveness and affordable repayment of their education debt under the latest plans unveiled by the Biden administration.
The rash of proposals overhaul several programs designed to discharge federal student loans when borrowers are defrauded by their colleges, as well as those who are permanently disabled, spend years in public service, or face a school closure.