Daily Lumina News 022421

Stark differences by race and ethnicity exist in student borrowing trends—but real progress to better understand Black, Hispanic, Latino, and Native American student borrowing depends on setting up the right conversation and narrative.
This collection of essays explores the complexities of student debt; focuses on changing systems rather than blaming individual borrowers; and puts Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous experts, leaders, and community members at the center of the discussion.

One application. Scores of questions. Untold hours of angst. Called the College Scholarship Service Profile, or CSS Profile, this complicated form is a gatekeeper for funds that many of the wealthiest colleges give out each year.
The application—used by more than 400,000 students annually—helps colleges and scholarship organizations allot more than $9 billion a year to students, often unlocking doors to a new life. But the same process that expands opportunity for some applicants contracts it for others. Low-income and first-generation applicants who could benefit greatly by submitting the form often struggle to complete it. And sometimes they give up.

A former Gap manager loses his job of nearly 20 years and becomes a welder. A personal trainer, who once worked in finance, starts looking for a role in supply chain management.
Across Chicago, the job market is tight as the ongoing health crisis continues to batter parts of the U.S. economy, forcing workers in some of the hardest-hit industries to switch careers. Some are learning new skills through certification programs at local colleges, while others turn to workforce development programs in hopes of landing a job.

National Book Award winner and acclaimed antiracist scholar Dr. Ibram X. Kendi joins Lumina Foundation's Danette Howard for a special conversation on how public policy can become a tool for equity and justice.
The March 3 virtual event is part of Lumina's "Racial Justice and Equity Series." You can register here.