Daily Lumina News 101121

Two parents—Gamal Abdelaziz and John Wilson—have been found guilty of illegally paying bribes to get their children admitted to the University of Southern California.
Abdelaziz and Wilson, both prominent businessmen, are the first people to stand trial in the federal investigation dubbed Operation Varsity Blues. The scandal, which became public in 2019, offered fresh insights into the role of wealth vs. merit in the college admissions process.

For many college students, the pandemic’s arrival did more than disrupt their studies, threaten their health, and shut down campus life. It also closed off the usual paths that lead from the classroom to jobs after graduation.
But seniors and graduates are again in demand as companies revive recruiting, underscoring the economic premium that comes with a diploma.

Despite a surge of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 in parts of the United States, millions of students returned to campus this fall for the in-person college experience.
Some schools have strict mandates for vaccination, testing, and masking. In other places, that’s not an option. This episode of the Rethinking College series from PBS NewsHour examines what life looks like at two of America’s flagship universities.

Securing a spot at a child care center for her young son became a defining moment for Junely Merwin—and ultimately her ticket to pursuing a college education.
Access to child care is critical for college students who are also parents. But during the pandemic, as more child care centers shuttered across the country, many student parents who relied on campus-based care on public universities and community colleges found themselves facing yet another barrier to earning a degree.

Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed several bills designed to improve college affordability, eliminate equity gaps, and make it easier for community college students to transfer to the state’s public university systems.
The latest bills are part of the state’s $47.1 billion investment in California's higher education system—and the highest level of state funding to date.

As president and CEO of Lumina Foundation, Jamie Merisotis has spent most of his 30-plus-year career at the intersection of philanthropy, education, and work.
In this interview, Merisotis tells Mike Scutari of Inside Philanthropy what keeps him up at night, the people who influenced his professional life, and why fears of a future ruled by machines are (fortunately) overstated.