Daily Lumina News 091323

Jessica Ramlakhan, 37, has a goal: She wants to become a psychologist and open a private practice with flexible, family-friendly hours to help troubled teenagers. But until two years ago, between family and work, she hadn’t managed to make it through even one full semester of college.
A new program by New York’s public university system hopes to reverse this trajectory for struggling students—and for the higher education system more broadly.

A revolution is in the making at California’s community colleges: No more grades, no more sitting through lectures or seminars, no more deadlines. In a pilot program taking shape across eight of the state’s community colleges, the only requirement for some associate degrees will be “competency.”
Students who prove they have the relevant skills can earn that degree.

Brianna Chavez, 27, was in elementary school when she decided to become a nurse. Today, she is a 2023 graduate of El Paso Community College with an associate of applied science degree in nursing.

Chavez says her EPCC degree plan gave her a solid foundation for this career, which will be in high demand locally, regionally, and nationally for years to come. It's also the kind of outcome that will benefit the college and its Texas counterparts now that the state has launched a new funding formula for community colleges.

For international students, an acceptance letter from a university in the United States is cause for celebration. However, getting a student visa in time to attend the first day of classes can be an even bigger achievement.
That's because the wait can last months, even more than a year. Immigration advocates and others argue that these delays hurt the United States in terms of competitiveness as it loses global talent to other countries.

During the last pre-pandemic college application cycle, 2018-19, nearly 1.2 million students accessed the Common Application, created a profile, and began working on at least one application. But almost 300,000 of these students did not end up submitting any application through the Common App.
New research offers clues on who makes it to college—and what institutions can do to equalize college enrollment.

Millions of Americans are getting ready to repay their federal student loans next month, and many have questions—from where to get started online to what repayment plan is right for them.
Yet early signs suggest that the companies the government pays to answer those questions are struggling as borrowers flood their phone lines.