The debate over hybrid learning on many college campuses this spring is the latest development in higher ed’s two-year struggle to figure out how best to deliver instruction to students amid the pandemic. 

It also raises questions about whether colleges coming out of the COVID era will pursue a “new normal” of flexible learning, as some higher-ed experts expected, or simply push for a return to the classroom of 2019.

Internships tend to provide an advantage to students who are already advantaged—essentially those who can afford to work for cheap or free.

More colleges are now creating new funds and programs to pay students for work when employers won’t. It’s one way to equalize internship opportunities, which have historically excluded low-income students.

Photo: Maria Manali

Even though the Biden administration’s plan to make community college tuition-free for two years was stripped from the federal Build Back Better bill, the push for free college is alive and well in many parts of the country.  

While the White House has turned its focus to extending the student loan payment pause, states are quietly moving forward with plans to pass legislation of their own to make some college tuition-free.