Daily Lumina News 042324

The sticker price of a college degree is higher than ever, with several private institutions nearing a total cost of $100,000 a year. But at some of those same institutions, the country’s wealthiest and most selective, the past year has also been one of pronounced growth in financial aid programs.
With race-conscious admissions now out of the picture, some observers believe it may be their best bet for diversity.

Jessica Soble’s journey from small-town life in upstate New York to becoming an education coordinator at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City has been one of tragedy, resilience, and transformation.
Today, Soble is working to help incarcerated students, using her own experience behind prison walls to ensure others receive the necessary resources and support to transition into higher education and beyond.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when dozens of the most prestigious universities in the nation suspended their standardized testing requirement, some become hopeful of a new era of more equitable college admissions.
Many of those same institutions have now done an about-face on their test-optional policies. Meanwhile, more than 80 percent of four-year schools will still not require testing for 2025 admissions. This splintering of admissions policies post-pandemic is reinvigorating debate around the necessity of the SAT: to test or not to test?

First-generation students often face many obstacles when it comes to college access and success, including a lack of family members who have been to college and can offer guidance.
But researchers say the federal definition of “first-generation” students is too narrow. Expanding the definition of first-generation expands enrollment data and, therefore, can tell a different story about who is ready for college and the support they need to succeed.

Financial aid and admissions officers across California’s colleges and universities are navigating longer hours and more stress as they deal with unprecedented havoc in this year’s rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
Why is California seeing more challenges from the FAFSA delays? And what is the state doing to mitigate the fallout? Financial aid workers weigh in with insight on how they're helping students and families navigate this year's FAFSA.

The arrests last week at Columbia University of more than 100 seemingly peaceful protesters may be setting a new precedent for campus activism.
While police have previously intervened during the occupation of buildings or when protests turn violent, antisemitic, or unruly, colleges generally leave peaceful outdoor protests alone. That could be changing.