Daily Lumina News 051222

The University of South Florida can count Nicholas Bennett as one of its victories in a campaign to help more students—especially low- and moderate-income ones—stay in school and graduate.
USF has been doing a lot of things at once to boost its graduation statistics. That includes improvements to its academic advising office, the addition of more tutoring programs, reforms to courses with high failure rates, and much more.

In 2014, Paralee Cox received a 60-month federal prison sentence for drug-related charges. Fast forward eight years and she is just days away from walking the stage as a Blue Ridge Community College graduate.
For the past year, North Carolina community colleges have been making significant adjustments to the way they serve adult learners—learners like Cox with multiple hurdles to overcome.

Student loan debt forgiveness. Free community college. Pell Grants for short-term programs. They represent some of the key higher education issues occupying the federal policy landscape in Washington.
The U.S. Department of Education's James Kvaal weighs in on the Biden administration’s current thinking about these and other education-related topics, including the challenges of operating in a highly partisan era.

Last year, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville announced plans to continue a pilot program that let prospective students choose whether to submit standardized-test scores—a common COVID-era accommodation across higher ed.
Less than a year later, Tennessee’s test-optional pilot has ended—even though the university’s data suggest that it was benefiting the institution.

While the pause on federal student loan payments may be a sigh of relief for many borrowers, it is only a temporary solution. That's particularly true for Black student loan borrowers who are often forced to take on more debt to attend college.
According to the Brookings Institution, Black borrowers’ reliance on loans to pay for college has contributed to the widening racial wealth gap. Four years after graduating, Black college graduates owe an average of $52,726; by comparison, white students owe an average of $28,006.

Taylor Richardson is a determined student with a 3.7 GPA. She had big dreams to go to Spelman College and nowhere else. The campus felt like home, where she was meant to be.
To get there, Richardson would have to overcome two wealth gaps that play a large role in higher education.