Daily Lumina News 112321

Zarai Saldana expected to kick off her senior year at the University of California Merced from a brand-new apartment where she’d already signed a lease. Instead, the transfer student spent the first two weeks of the school year shuttling from hotel to hotel.
At least four UC campuses have resorted to hotels to house students this fall. But the financial support that goes along with them varies from campus to campus. And for many students, finding more permanent, affordable housing remains elusive.

Black students, on average, owe thousands more than their white peers when they graduate. That disparity prompted Robert F. Smith, a billionaire tech investor, to start the Student Freedom Initiative with corporate partners—and help from Family Feud‘s Steve Harvey.
The nonprofit gives flexible loans and grants to juniors and seniors who are in good academic standing and majoring in STEM fields. Recipients pay money back based on their post-graduation earnings.

Two House Education and Labor subcommittees held a joint hearing last week to learn how postsecondary institutions are using specific federal funds to address challenges brought on by the pandemic.
Some schools like Amarillo College have hired case managers and social workers to connect students with basic needs supports on campus and in their communities. Others like City Colleges of Chicago are launching programs to provide short-term credentials to students at no cost.

President Joe Biden’s proposal to make community colleges tuition-free is officially off the table. The reality coincides with recent enrollment figures showing many colleges nationwide in dire straits, particularly at the community college level.
But it’s going to take a lot more than tuition assistance to get students to graduation and good jobs, writes Kenneth Adams of LaGuardia Community College in this op-ed.