Daily Lumina News 080423

It's time for the "August surprise," when colleges and universities take private scholarship money and subtract it from institutional grants. Half of colleges, in fact, reduce their offers of financial aid when students win outside money.
Know as "scholarship displacement," the practice is now coming under fire. Lawmakers in five states have passed restrictions, with similar legislation pending in others. A proposal in New Jersey would widen that state’s ban to private, not just public, universities and colleges.

Like scores of smaller, less-prestigious schools before it, plummeting enrollment pushed tiny Cazenovia College to the point where it couldn’t pay back the $25 million it owes creditors.
Now, as the 200-year-old institution in rural upstate New York embarks on the tough task of winding down and liquidating, Cazenovia serves as a useful reminder of the challenges that other troubled colleges could face in the ever-widening shakeout of higher ed in America.

Many college students take out loans from the federal government to help pay for college, but there’s a cap on the amount they can borrow. When they still can’t afford the cost, they face a choice: Don’t go to college, or take out riskier private loans to cover the rest.
At some Pittsburgh universities, more students are taking on larger amounts of private debt than others nationwide. That raises questions about the affordability of these institutions and the financial guidance students receive. It also means more students are borrowing with fewer protections.

Students from immigrant families now make up nearly a third of all students enrolled at American colleges and universities, according to two reports issued by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.
Both reports suggest that recruiting students born to immigrant parents and undocumented students is critical for colleges to stay diverse and stave off enrollment declines.

Rhonda Hicks loved teaching in Philadelphia’s public schools. As a Black woman, she took pride in being a role model for students of color. But as other aspects of the job deteriorated, so too did her desire to remain in a profession she loved.
She's not alone. Across the country, teachers are leaving their jobs in growing numbers. The turnover in some cases is highest among teachers of color. A major culprit: stress—from pandemic-era burnout, low pay, and the intrusion of politics into classrooms. But the burdens can be heavier in schools serving high-poverty communities that also have higher numbers of teachers of color.

For decades, people could make good livings working in casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. But costs have outpaced wages. And after the economic devastation of the Great Recession, many saw education as a way to raise their standard of living.
At the same time, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and the College of Southern Nevada have some of the highest percentages of minority students in the country. Will the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to strike down race-conscious college admissions change that?