Daily Lumina News 110521

President Joe Biden’s plan to make two years of community college tuition-free nationwide is going nowhere in Congress at the moment.
But across the country, “College Promise” programs continue to grow among state and local governments as elected officials look for ways to improve college-going and workforce preparation.

Hospitals across the country continue to hemorrhage nurses as many retire or leave the profession exhausted and stressed out after more than a year and a half of tending to sick and dying patients infected with the coronavirus.
Would-be nursing students appear eager to fill the gaps—enrollment in nursing programs overall is rising—but colleges and universities are struggling to meet the demand because of limited funds, faculty, and space.

Job seekers today are finding nearly 50 percent more openings than they had pre-COVID, and many can expand their search beyond their hometowns because of newly flexible workplace arrangements across industries.
Flush with options, and frustrated after laboring through lockdowns, many workers are feeling a new sense of possibility.

On his first day out of prison after 27 years, Allen Burnett bought shoes from a discount store, visited Target, and stopped at the beach to smell the ocean air. He then made his way to the one place he had dreamed about while behind bars: Cal State Los Angeles.
In prison, Burnett got the chance to enroll in classes from Cal State L.A. as part of a first-of-its-kind degree program that imparts an otherwise unheard-of message to incarcerated students: You are worthy.

Unwelcome news is surrounding colleges and universities these days, from dramatic enrollment declines to scaled-back priorities in President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act.
Three education and policy experts offer their thoughts on what these developments mean and why they matter.

More big-name tech companies are teaming up with community colleges, increasingly putting real money and support behind their partnerships.
The growing interest also signifies that organizations like Microsoft, Google, Amazon Web Services, and others understand how critical it is to help institutions align curriculum and training to emerging technologies and high-demand skills and competencies.