Daily Lumina News 083023

The benefits of higher education go far beyond employment and earnings; a postsecondary degree can improve outcomes in everything from personal health and character to civic engagement and relationships. That's according to a new report from Gallup and Lumina Foundation.
Researchers of the study hope that by highlighting the other benefits of higher education, they can help attract potential students to college.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities are currently enjoying their highest levels of cultural prominence in decades. Enrollment is soaring, and funding is increasing. And some expect application numbers to improve even further this year as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling against race-conscious admissions practices.
New research shows that the students who seek out HBCUs have a distinct profile: They prize a sense of belonging, they have unique communications preferences, and they look at value differently.

When Nilsy Alvarado graduated from high school in Chicago nearly two decades ago, she had big plans to attend college. It was 2004. A Honduran immigrant who’d arrived with her family in the late 1990s, she secured a slot at a local community college, but reality hit when a counselor revealed her first semester’s tuition: $700, up front.
This fall, 19 years after she graduated from high school, Alvarado is about to get a second chance at college, compliments of an unusual benefactor: her oldest daughter and a scholarship program from Hope Chicago.

The economy is getting greener and that means more job and career opportunities all across the nation.
Green jobs are not new, but as more and more businesses address their own impact on the environment and their communities—often at the insistence of their shareholders and customers—the job market is expanding into nearly every industry. A new report examines what a green job is and the skills needed to get one.

From colonial schools to the land grant era, America’s universities pledged to serve the public by making college affordable.
Now it’s time to hold them to it, writes Jonathan Zimmerman, an author and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, in this commentary on making higher education accessible for all Americans.

Applying to college can often be overwhelming for students as they untangle varying admissions policies and wade through heaps of paperwork.
A survey from the National Association for College Admission Counseling confirms students are deeply apprehensive about the process—more than half of the roughly 1,000 students polled cite applying to college as their most stressful academic experience to date. And about three-quarters fear that one small application error could lessen their admission chances.