Daily Lumina News 041921

Fifteen state flagship universities had at least a 10-point gap between the percentage of Black public high school graduates in their states in 2019 and the Black share of freshmen they enrolled that fall, according to federal data analyzed by The Hechinger Report and The Washington Post.
The analysis underscores the enduring disconnect between the racial demographics of many flagships and the population of states they serve.

The pandemic has wreaked havoc with the nation’s schools and colleges. In a matter of days, students and teachers swapped classrooms for Chromebooks and school desks for kitchen tables. Schools and parents needed to figure out how to secure reliable internet for children, and college students had to decide whether undergraduate schooling was worth the price if you couldn’t be on campus.
The following four charts chronicle the effects of the pandemic on education in America.

Some colleges are requiring students to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Others are taking an incentive-based approach.
For instance, students at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro who get vaccinated against COVID-19 will have a shot at free housing, textbooks, or meal credits. Other colleges are encouraging their students to follow best practices for public health by giving incentives for testing and self-screening.

College education during incarceration helps people become less likely to re-offend upon leaving prison, and gives access to better job opportunities. By 2023, formerly incarcerated people will be able to access Pell Grants toward their education.
In this video, Margaret Dizerega of the Vera Institute of Justice talks about the Pell reinstatement and what it means for incarcerated students, families, and communities.

Students in San Jose live in one of the wealthiest regions with the highest-paying jobs in the nation; over the next decade, Google plans to transform the downtown area with a village for 25,000 employees. But most San Jose students won’t share in the prosperity or work at those jobs: Only 30 percent graduate with a college degree within six years of graduating from high school.
A new micro-scholarship program backed by developers and tech companies aims to build students’ confidence and boost their bank accounts as they complete different tasks connected to college and career readiness.

Student debt has been part of Phyllis Wintter's life for as long as she can remember. At 67, she still owes around $48,000. Now, she hopes that change could be coming, and that President Joe Biden will forgive her loans.
Yet even among those in support of canceling education debt, there are disagreements, particularly over how big the relief should be and who should get it. A new report compares some of these different forgiveness plans and their potential impact on borrowers.