Daily Lumina News 081623

Student interest in online and hybrid courses isn't going away in a post-pandemic world; it hasn't even peaked yet. That's according to the annual Changing Landscape of Online Education report.
The findings are sparking conversations about what hybrid learning’s role might be in the future and what colleges need to do to prepare.

It’s that time of year again. The SUVs and U-Hauls are packed, Target shelves are cleared, and parents everywhere are preparing for teary-eyed goodbyes: College kids are going back to school.
But while much of the process has stayed the same, Gen Z has a new way of getting ready. Many incoming college students are turning to content creators on social media for advice on everything from living with a roommate to not failing their classes.

A federal judge has denied a bid by the Cato Institute and Mackinac Center for Public Policy to block the Biden administration from canceling the federal student loans of more than 800,000 people who have been in repayment for more than 20 years.
With the debt forgiveness, the Biden administration is trying to fix decades of mismanagement of income-driven repayment plans for federal student loan borrowers.

A wave of bills targeting alumni preferences is building across state houses and in Congress. Has the U.S. Supreme Court’s affirmative action ban paved the way for their success?
Some advocates are betting on it. Proposals from Democratic state legislators in New York and Connecticut seek to ban the practice outright at public and private institutions in their states. Legislators in other states, including Pennsylvania and California, have promised to introduce similar legislation in upcoming sessions.

While college admissions could reduce racial and socioeconomic inequity, it often does the opposite: blocking the economic mobility that college degrees can offer.
No single policy or practice can make admissions equitable, but there is a lot educators can do, starting with reworking and simplifying recruitment and admissions tactics in a comprehensive way—helping students and their families for generations to come, writes Lumina Foundation's Wendy Sedlak in this commentary.

For a time, Mikai’l Grant wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life. Then he took advantage of a program that enables students to get professional certificates, a job at KenCrest West Philadelphia Early Learning Center, and entrance to the Community College of Philadelphia with credits.
Grant is now 18 with a career plan and intentions of becoming a teacher in an industry that needs new blood, particularly Black men like Grant.