Daily Lumina News 090123

Like other race-conscious admissions programs, West Point’s prep school helps promising recruits who may lag academically because of their socioeconomic background.
But it does so in a way that civilian colleges seldom do—by building up those students’ academic abilities to match those of their more privileged peers. For colleges looking to find ways to achieve racial diversity after the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision eliminating affirmative action in college admissions, the West Point approach may provide an answer.

If you’d met Edris Tajik at Bard College earlier this summer, his life might have seemed like that of a typical college student.
Yet the 25-year-old’s experience over the past couple of years is far from ordinary. A refugee from Afghanistan, he fled the country in August 2021 amid the chaos of the United States’ withdrawal and the Taliban’s takeover. His life is proof of the power of education to transform lives—even in the aftermath of war.

Diego Fonseca is among 100 students who opted to spend a week of summer break at George Mason University brushing up on math lessons that didn’t stick during pandemic schooling.
Students across the country are grappling with the same challenge as academic setbacks from the pandemic follow them to campus. Colleges say there’s no quick fix. Many are trying to identify gaps sooner, adopting placement tests that delve deeper into math skills, while some are adding summer camps.

Earning a high school diploma, let alone a college degree, once seemed like an unattainable goal to Reyna Gómez Tippetts. Growing up in Mexico, she lived with her single mother in a shack with a dirt floor and cardboard walls. There was little time to dream.
But dream she did. Tippetts came to the United States at age 20, securing a part-time custodial job at Lone Star College's East Aldine campus. It would be the beginning of a remarkable educational journey—and a testament to the human spirit.

Divine Justice Hilliard, 24, was in college when she participated in a program designed for single parents. While the effort provided assistance for campus housing and childcare for her now elementary-school-aged child, she graduated with almost $70,000 in student loan debt.
Now, with the end of the U.S. student debt repayment pause, people like Hilliard who parented while in college say they cannot afford to prioritize paying their loans back.

Last year’s back-to-school headlines were dominated by concerns about teacher shortages. It doesn’t take a crystal ball to predict that, without meaningful policy changes, staffing challenges will continue to undermine U.S. education and shortchange the country’s students.
As it turns out, the future of the teaching workforce may depend on where you live. A new state-by-state analysis offers important insight.