Daily Lumina News 012324

It is clear by now that the mental-health crisis has changed academia forever: its structures, its culture, and the function it is expected to perform in American society.
Nowhere is this more apparent than at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, where a spate of suicides forced professors and administrators to become custodians of individual student wellness.

Interest is booming in community college in Massachusetts, due in part to a new state program designed to make higher education more affordable for residents 25 and older.
But while community college leaders are buoyed by the rise in enrollment, they're also concerned about the pressure it creates on their enrollment and financial aid departments. Many staff members are getting burned out, and some worry that could eventually impact the student experience.

Millions of Americans are paying down their student loans for the first time in years but with more repayment options than before.
Chief among them is President Joe Biden’s new income-driven repayment plan—Saving on a Valuable Education plan, commonly known as SAVE—which ties monthly payments to earnings and family size.

Competition drives the higher-education landscape, particularly at its most selective levels. Administrators eye their peers, while students hope to beat out fellow applicants for an acceptance letter.
But keeping up has costs—something the University of Chicago is now discovering.

Felix Cazares may only be in the ninth grade, but he’s already been accepted to a four-year college. He has the university ID, student email address, and admission letter to prove it.
The offer comes courtesy of California State University, Fresno, which recently launched an early guaranteed admission program that aims to boost enrollment and build a “culture of college-going” as soon as students enter high school.

College presidents often view technology as a cost center, not as a place to drive differentiation in how they educate and serve students.
But with the right set of investments in the coming years, colleges can see academic innovation as an opportunity to improve learner engagement, enhance the overall student experience, and ultimately drive demand for their offerings, writes higher ed expert Jeff Selingo in this essay.