Daily Lumina News 072920

The pandemic has upended the traditional model of higher education, particularly for residential colleges. As many schools announce plans to charge full tuition while continuing with remote learning, some students and parents are questioning whether the price is worth it.
This episode of "Rethinking College" examines a new effort to rethink the value, and the cost, of traditional college in the coronavirus era.

As colleges unveil plans for a fall semester during the coronavirus pandemic, some students have decided to put their education on pause and take a voluntary leave of absence for the semester or the entire academic year while they wait for college life to return to normal.
But taking an official leave at some colleges can be complicated. Students may lose certain privileges upon return from leave, and college officials worry residence halls and other on-campus facilities could be overwhelmed if too many students on leave are allowed to return at the same time.

The federal government’s emergency relief for more than 40 million student loan borrowers is set to expire at the end of September, amid sky-high levels of unemployment and an overall economy still stifled by rising coronavirus cases.
Unless Congress or the administration intervenes, monthly loan payments paused due to the pandemic will come due for tens of millions of borrowers.

Johana Resendiz woke up at 4 a.m. every school day to take several buses that would eventually drop her off at the border bridge by 6 a.m. where she had to wait in line to enter the United States.
Now 18, Resendiz will attend UCLA this year. She is one of the 36 percent of Latino students admitted to the University of California system, the first time that Latinos make up the largest ethnic group of admitted freshmen. Her story illustrates the difficult journey that some Latino students must take to be admitted to one of California’s flagship universities.