Daily Lumina News 071420

As Congress and state legislatures search for ways to make college more affordable, people with direct experience—including many researchers of color—aren’t in the room where it happens. Diversity is absent as borrowers of color face an array of special challenges that vary by race, ethnicity, and gender.
As part of a Lumina Foundation-funded project, three experts share insights on the enormous barriers student loan borrowers of color face—and the solutions to help them achieve fair outcomes in education, work, and life.

Among the many frustrations ahead for millions of Americans thrown out of work by the pandemic is one that may surprise them: To get a new job, it’s increasingly likely they will have to take a test.
As the number of candidates balloons while health risks make it hard for hiring managers to meet with them in person, a trend toward “pre-hiring assessments"—already under way before COVID-19—is getting a huge new push.

Community colleges are particularly well-positioned to help local job seekers and employers get back on their feet by providing high-quality training programs. These public colleges generally have strong ties to local businesses, experience serving adult learners, and deep roots in their communities.
But the challenge is how to design investments in community colleges that leverage their full potential as economic development institutions. Congress can help.

Life on Harvard University's campus was meant to offer students the possibility of forming relationships with well-connected peers and professors, a social environment that could multiply opportunities. Now, the experience has narrowed into what is possible through a computer screen.
For all college students, including and especially those from low-income backgrounds, the coronavirus has unraveled years of hard work and extracurricular hustle. Some are now questioning the value of an elite institution.