Daily Lumina News 102920

Students who began college in the fall of 2016 have pursued higher education in bizarre times, bookended by a brutal election in which a reality-TV star upended American politics and a global pandemic that derailed their in-person graduation plans. A subset of those students supported President Trump in 2016 as college freshmen.
After four years of college, have their views changed? Four students who voted for Trump in 2016 discuss how college has shaped their political thinking, and whether they are planning to vote for him again in 2020.

As Election Day approaches, university administrators, voting groups, and students are dealing with a new challenge: casting a ballot in an election held during a pandemic.
Some schools are taking action—from hiring a taxi company to take quarantined students who want to vote from their residence halls to a drive-by early polling station to challenging long-standing state laws that discourage college students from voting.

Student transfer is down this fall, with new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center showing that the anticipated influx of students transferring to community colleges from four-year institutions didn't happen.
On this podcast, Iris Palmer of New America talks about the report—plus state policies and incentives to help students transfer more seamlessly.

The majority of community college students work while attending school, and many work because their financial situations dictate that they do so. Yet, working and attending college concurrently can be a struggle for many students, often causing them to withdraw from college altogether.
A new report urges colleges to better meet working students’ needs by providing support services, helping them with scheduling, and promoting ways to develop stronger connections with faculty and staff.