Daily Lumina News 112421

A new report documents how Black student loan borrowers face staggering repayment plans that stretch on for decades, making it impossible to afford basic necessities like rent, food, and health care.
The study is the first national look at the day-to-day toll that debt has on Black families. It also explores borrower-identified policy solutions, like doubling federal Pell Grants, lower interest rates, and realistic debt cancellation.

With so much talk about colleges and universities going out of business, this episode of the Future U podcast explores higher ed mergers and acquisitions with someone who knows the issue firsthand: Jeff Senese, the president of Saint Leo University.
Saint Leo, a liberal arts institution in Florida, recently acquired Marymount California University. It hopes to further expand its footprint by building a network of Catholic colleges.

Like many professors, Jennifer Gauthier has returned to the classroom this semester at Randolph College, in Virginia. But she hasn’t returned to the way she used to teach. “We’re living in a completely different time,” Gauthier says. “We can’t go back.”
Nearly all instructors who were teaching when the pandemic hit had to change their assignments and policies. Many are now sticking with those changes.

Last Friday, the House passed the Build Back Better Act after months of back and forth negotiations in Congress over the breadth and cost of the bill.
While the allocation for higher education is significantly scaled down from President Joe Biden’s original proposal—and the historic investment to make community college free did not make the final bill—Build Back Better shows a strong commitment to higher education equity, affordability, and success.

Five years ago, Miriam Cortés, then 33, found herself juggling massive college debt and unable to pay her bills despite working full time as a substitute teacher and holding several other part-time jobs.
Cortés is exactly the type of woman Ada Developers Academy aims to help—smart and motivated, but stuck in a job or career that, for whatever reason, isn’t right for them.

Helen Muradyan, a second-year resident physician, stopped working last month. But not because her skills aren’t needed. Muradyan, an immigrant from Armenia, had to stop working because the U.S. government didn't process her application to renew her work permit.
She's not alone. The pandemic kept some would-be immigrants out of this country. But others already here and working legally are being forced out of the labor market because of bureaucratic delays.