Daily Lumina News 022520

A new education building at the Walla Walla penitentiary opened its doors to students last week, checking a box that’s long been on the state’s wish list.
When the prison’s new medium-custody units opened six years ago to house about 250 offenders, no money was left to create programming space for classes. That meant cobbling together classrooms for each unit to offer what officials could. Now, inmates are getting the training and tools they need to do better on the outside.

Some solutions in education are expensive. Take early college high schools, which give students a head start on their college degrees but cost about $3,800 extra per student.
Are they worth it? New research suggests that these schools might actually pay for themselves in long-term benefits to both students and the public as a whole.

In the world of higher education, you will find few buildings less remarkable than the Delaware County Technical High School in Broomall, Pennsylvania.
But inside—along a single hallway—a little-known program ranks with the biggest names in higher education, and, in some cases, outperforms them. By one measure, it’s among the best deals in higher-ed right now—a mighty engine of value in an era where college debt is at the forefront of national politics and overburdened families question the worth of a degree.

As Democratic presidential candidates debate what to do about student loan debt, one low-cost, simple policy change could increase college graduation rates among lower- and middle-income students—and, in many cases, reduce their need to borrow. All students applying to college should fill out and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and every college should be required to report the incomes of all their students.
Catharine B. Hill, managing director of Ithaka S+R and president emerita of Vassar College, explains.