Daily Lumina News 092921

As the American economy recovers from the worst impacts of the pandemic, questions remain about the labor force and the larger challenges that plagued the economy prior to the start of COVID-19.
The final installment of the Work Shift series looks at some of the lessons learned and what's at stake for workers and employers.

Racial disparities are widening, and this reality denies too many people a fair shot at economic opportunity and participation in society.
Lumina Foundation's HBCU Adult Learner Initiative will support five historically Black colleges and universities in North Carolina. It’s a $2 million effort over the next two years to build the capacity of HBCUs to serve adult students.

Years of experience has given colleges and universities the confidence to know how many students to accept and how many of them will enroll. The result has been fairly consistent numbers of freshmen showing up each fall. That’s changing dramatically.
Reporter Jon Marcus explains what's happening and why on this podcast.

It's not easy to debate a policy change with scant data. But that's been the challenge in arguments about whether Pell Grants should cover tuition for training programs as short as eight weeks.
Recent research shows that the payoff for short-term Pell offerings varies widely, but some policymakers think they can work with the right precautions.

A year and a half after the coronavirus pandemic shuttered campuses across America, students are back on campus and online at the same time.
They like having the choice. For many, education is defined less by the mode of instruction than by how well it meets their needs.

The ranks of home care aides are expected to grow by more than those of any other job in the next decade, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It’s also among the lowest-paying occupations on the list.
The pandemic only made things worse, exposing the vulnerability of not only the elderly and infirm but also of those who care for them.