Daily Lumina News 121721

Last year, Cornell University brought students back to campus, but with limited in-person activities and socializing. Though case numbers of COVID-19 remained relatively low, other colleges reported soaring case counts and several faculty and staff members and students died.
This year was supposed to be different. Then came the Omicron variant.

Monthly student loan payments and interest are set to resume in February for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.
Top Democrats are urging the Biden administration to again extend the freeze on federal student loan payments before it expires, warning that requiring tens of millions of Americans to resume paying their debt will drag down the economic recovery.

A Boston-based nonprofit is leaning all the way into the idea that children are the future by setting eighth graders up with short, unpaid apprenticeships.
The founders of Apprentice Learning say the idea is to spark an interest in, or passion for, potential careers, thereby putting middle schoolers on a path to success in high school and beyond.

Undocumented immigrants like Angel and Yohali Mendoza have limited resources to finance an education beyond high school. While they can apply for state scholarships in some parts of the country, they are shut out from federal student loans and grants that keep many of their peers enrolled.
That could soon change if Democrats can shepherd President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan through Congress.

Dally Matos, a graduate student at Columbia University, says her student loan debt is taking a serious toll on her mental health. She wishes schools would place more emphasis on explaining the intricacies of student loans and repayment plans.
She’s not alone. Research shows that the fear of accumulating debt and a lack of financial aid knowledge can often deter Latino students from pursuing and completing college.

The California State University system, the largest four-year higher education network in the United States, will consider early next year whether to permanently end admissions test requirements. This week, Chancellor Joseph Castro expressed support for the move.
A system committee recently advised that Cal State stop using SAT and ACT scores in admissions. Under the committee's recommendations, Cal State would develop more equitable ways to assess a student’s potential for college success.