Daily Lumina News 120120

The coronavirus presented huge challenges for the fall semester at U.S. colleges that opened the academic year with in-person learning, including some that took a battering from outbreaks. Those not joining the growing number that will offer only virtual learning are assessing how they would bring students back after the winter holidays while the country faces crushing rates of virus infections.
Schools that are bringing students back find themselves adjusting testing protocols, introducing new screenings, and eliminating spring breaks to discourage students from traveling.

Close to 70 percent of all college students in the United States work. But a stagnant minimum wage and the skyrocketing cost of higher education means that money doesn’t go as far as it used to for most college students.
Some states are taking action by raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Many college students say this could be a game changer for financing their education and managing the balance between work and school.

Across the country, Pell Grants can measure the economic background of students that colleges and universities serve. Nationally, about 33 percent of college students receive a Pell Grant. They come overwhelmingly from families earning less than $30,000 a year.
Most flagships enroll fewer low-income students than other public colleges in their states. The University of Colorado Boulder stands out, however, for just how few of these students it enrolls.

The coronavirus pandemic has introduced extraordinary challenges to college students and higher education institutions in the United States. While long-term enrollment and financial implications are still unknown, one thing is certain: The pandemic has increased student mobility and the attention to transfer students.
Two new reports offer insight on what can be done to address structural barriers to transfer success and equity.

When Ximena Castillo needs to focus on her college coursework, she walks down the hall from her basement apartment in Chicago’s Gage Park neighborhood and settles into her new study spot: the laundry room.
Finding a setting conducive to schoolwork is just one of the many challenges low-income college students face as they try to continue their education amid pandemic-related setbacks.

Colleges and universities nationwide are navigating public health and financial crises while also reckoning with the consequences of racial bias on their campuses and in their communities.
These challenges make it more imperative than ever for institutions to expand the pipelines of students they recruit and enroll, especially community college transfer students and military veterans.