Daily Lumina News 021623

How much information does a college really need to make an admission offer to a student?
Several states are now gauging the effectiveness of extending conditional admission offers to prescreened students who meet specific academic criteria. The goal? To help colleges increase enrollment—and attract more low-income and first-generation students.

Billions of dollars are needed to fully repair, maintain, and renovate academic buildings and facilities across the 23 campuses in the California State University system, according to a new legislative report.
But with limited funds available, finding the money to make that happen will be a challenge. Meanwhile, many students are complaining about unbearable heat waves in classrooms without air conditioning and canceled classes due to flooded buildings.

In his State of the Union address last week, President Joe Biden offered an encouraging vision of a U.S. economy where all workers have access to quality jobs via multiple education and training pathways.
But for that vision to become reality, the nation needs to invest more in the workforce development system, writes Jobs for the Future's Maria Flynn in this commentary.

Growing up in foster care, Jessica de Laguna felt helpless when it came to achieving her goal of becoming a doctor. “I just learned to survive,” says de Laguna, who identifies as a Native American of the Yaqui Tribe.
After 15 years away from the classroom, de Laguna decided to go all-in on her dream and enrolled in community college. Thanks to a new medical school program that recruits community college students, she is getting the support she needs to fulfill her goals.

Leaders at the Rhode Island School of Design announced this week of plans to withdraw from U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges undergraduate rankings, saying the controversial lists rely on exclusion and inequity and do not reflect the value of RISD's students or its academic programs.
The private nonprofit college appears to be the first to reject U.S. News’ undergraduate listing since a contingent of law and medical schools began stepping away from the rankings covering them late last year.

Job training for young people in Indianapolis is taking on a very European look—one that focuses on the idea that companies must take some responsibility for training and supporting youth, both as a social responsibility and to develop a talent pool from which to hire.
Two growing apprenticeship programs pay high school and community college students to work and train for jobs in the medical, business, IT and manufacturing fields, all while still in school. The programs also cover all or part of students' college tuition.