Daily Lumina News 080720

All parents are facing childcare challenges amid announcements from major school systems that classes will be mostly remote. At the same time, college students across the country are preparing for an experience that is, at best, different from what they expected, and at worst, could severely disrupt their progress toward a degree or credential.
But the nation’s 3.8 million student-parents—who make up about 22 percent of today’s undergraduate college students—sit at the nexus of both these trends.

Hundreds of colleges and universities had financial warning signs long before the coronavirus threatened to make everything worse. A new analysis of federal data examines the financial health of colleges and universities, how they got that way, and the ultimate consequences for students.

Sonya Thomas knows there are kids like her son, C.J., all over the country. Learning to read does not come easily to them. Schools tell their parents: Read to them. They’ll be OK. But many won’t be.
A false assumption about what it takes to be a skilled reader has created deep inequalities among U.S. children, putting many on a difficult path in life.

The California State University system recently announced a new graduation requirement: Students must take an ethnic studies or social justice course. But the new mandate might not even exist if it weren't for some students at a small commuter college in San Francisco.

This podcast tells the story of how a student-led protest became a defining moment in higher education—and the pivotal role that Black student activists played in reforming the American university system.