Daily Lumina News 092821

Despite expectations and hopes, higher education is in another COVID fall.
This episode of The Key examines how the pandemic is affecting institutions, students, and employees as most colleges and universities strive to keep their reopened campuses … open.

Robinhood, the free stock-trading app with 21 million active users and counting, is about to go on the road for a college coffeehouse tour to drum up new customers.
The company plans to hit up college coffee shops to spread the word about its services. When credit card companies did it a generation ago, Congress got involved.

America’s College Promise—the Democratic-backed plan to provide tuition for all community college students—could allow more than nine million students to pursue an associate degree for free.
Some states, on the other hand, will have to increase funding for higher education by more than 40 percent if they want to participate.

After raising a daughter, surviving a divorce, and providing care for her ailing parents—Deanna Byrum, 44, obtained her bachelor’s degree at a historically Black public institution in North Carolina. She's among a growing number of adult learners—students age 25 and up—flocking to North Carolina’s HBCUs in recent years.
The colleges have started to pay greater attention to the potential of adult students like Byrum, prompting administrators to make concrete changes to accommodate them.

Nebraska's employers are getting creative—and sometimes more generous—as they try to fill vacancies during the state’s acute labor shortage.
For 36-year-old Andrew Tauzier—who always wanted to be a welder—that creativity came courtesy of the Lozier Corporation and the promise of free training at Metropolitan Community College.

When Clinton College announced plans to slash tuition by 50 percent, the historically Black institution made headlines. Then, it upped the ante by waiving tuition altogether for incoming and returning students during the 2021-2022 academic year.
It's harder than ever for colleges to fill their incoming classes, but some schools are meeting that challenge with creativity and innovation.