Photo: Irfan Khan

In a move to boost sagging community college enrollment and address student demand for job-ready education opportunities, Los Angeles Community College campuses are experimenting with a new genre of courses taught in the native language of students—Spanish, Korean, Russian.

Students can take courses to become automotive technicians, or improve their understanding of child development and computer skills.

Americans now hold $1.7 trillion in student loan debt. Nearly two-thirds of that money—at least $929 billion—is owed by women.  

Women, and women of color in particular, are paid less than similarly educated men for the same jobs. They often go back to college to bolster their resumes and earn a salary that can support all their expenses. And they borrow more in the process.

The federal Pell Grant program, one of the most well-known ways to help low-income students pay for college, can only be applied to college programs that last longer than 15 weeks. But some advocates have long wanted to offer more flexibility for students taking shorter programs. 

The idea of the short-term Pell has broad bipartisan support and is now the subject of multiple proposals introduced in Congress.