Daily Lumina News 052422

In 2020, a staggering 39 million American adults dropped out of college and never finished their degrees. Their reasons vary and so do the solutions.
Colleges and philanthropies are interested in luring this population back—not only to improve the lives of these individuals and raise the skills of the U.S. labor force, but also to fill empty seats at colleges that have been losing students.

A new report shows persistent staffing shortages in financial aid offices, raising concerns about their ability to address student needs and maintain compliance with federal regulations in the future.
Retention and hiring issues at financial aid offices reflect larger trends across the global economy, driven by pandemic-induced inflation, job market changes, and stagnant wages.

High school senior Violet Pina saw college as a way to escape the violence in her Chicago neighborhood—if only she had the money to finance a college degree.
Pina will now do more than live out her dream of higher education—she will do it for free. Pina is among 4,000 Chicago high school students promised a full ride to in-state college by the nonprofit organization Hope Chicago.

The Biden administration's $45 billion Internet for All initiative represents an unprecedented investment to ensure every American has the tools to thrive in a digital economy.
But broadband use matters even more than broadband availability. In this interview, Karen Mossberger of the Center on Technology, Data and Society at Arizona State University explains the importance of digital human capital.

To reverse declining enrollment trends, colleges must do more than simply compete for the dwindling number of graduating high school seniors, says Joshua Wyner, author and founder of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program.
Wyner offers new strategies to attract the populations that colleges have long undervalued and underserved: high-school students taking college courses, community-college transfers, and working adults.

A rapid job training and retraining center at Monroe Community College is being billed as a prototype for tackling a shortage of skilled tradespeople.
The center, which will welcome its first students in July, is flexible enough to respond to individual employer needs. It also has a broad reach through partnerships with colleges and agencies throughout the region.