Daily Lumina News 112320

After graduating from Brown University with a degree in creative writing, Shana Tinkle worked as a bartender on a sightseeing train in Alaska, a teacher in Canada, and a crew member on a sailing ship before ending up at Southern Maine Community College to become a wildland firefighter.
She's not alone. More people with bachelor’s degrees are going back to school to learn skilled trades. The trend also exposes how many high school graduates go to college without having a plan.

A new report calls for a "students-first" approach to higher education—and specifically for states to protect financial aid and prioritize the community college systems serving adult students, people of color, and those in need of fast and affordable reskilling.

Maggie Pidto is careful. The 21-year-old senior at the University of Wisconsin had seven COVID-19 tests this semester, all of them negative. She plans to be tested again before coming home this week. She wants to protect her parents.
Thanksgiving has become a pivotal moment for higher education as the pandemic intensifies. It casts a spotlight not only on the risk of student travel plans, but also on how a wildly unpredictable semester has unfolded and what might happen next.

After welcoming students to campus for a hybrid fall semester, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor drastically shifted course. It is now adding more virtual classes and asking most students to remain home.
In many ways, the school’s chaotic fall has typified the struggles of big state universities that tried to maintain some semblance of normalcy amid contagion. But with outbreaks continuing to skyrocket, more schools have been forced to take a tougher stance on safety measures.

How much has college teaching really changed in 150 years? Not very much, according to Jonathan Zimmerman, an education historian, author, and professor at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.
On this podcast, Zimmerman discusses how colleges and universities got to where they are today, and what it might take to change the future of college teaching.

It’s a pressing question for tens of millions of Americans: Can President-elect Joe Biden forgive student debt without Congress?
A lot is riding on that answer. Higher education experts and policy analysts weigh in.