Daily Lumina News 091522

When President Joe Biden canceled college debt last month, he left untouched the problem that created the debt: the soaring price of college.
Ron Lieber, a personal finance columnist for The New York Times and author of “The Price You Pay for College," explains why the college cost issue is so hard to fix.

Over the past few years, community colleges have faced a perfect storm of interconnected threats: a tight labor market pulling would-be students to go straight into the workforce, dwindling enrollment, and a student-debt crisis.
For these institutions, survival has depended on the ability to innovate and adapt. Two prominent community college presidents describe how they're rising to the challenge.

A new report from the American College Health Association finds that colleges’ COVID vaccine policies and messaging have a major effect on students’ attitudes toward immunization.
The study comes as COVID cases are spiking on some campuses and as institutions begin to distribute new boosters for students ahead of a potential winter surge. Among survey participants who reported receiving both of their initial vaccine doses but no booster, more than half said they were unlikely to get further doses.

The U.S. Department of Education estimates that President Joe Biden's debt forgiveness plan will wipe out student debt for about 20 million people. But some critics say the effort does nothing to help low-income individuals who never attended college. Others say that even more loans should have been forgiven.
Education and policy experts speculate on what’s next for student loans and the future of college affordability.

Post-high school education remains a ladder to a successful career and wealth-building opportunity for millions of Black and Latino families.
But getting into college is only part of the equation. Students also need support from mentors and access to jobs and businesses that are committed to investing in young people’s success, writes this former high school math teacher.

As school districts across the country face dire teacher shortages, one possible solution is to help after-school staff earn their teaching credentials.
The Afterschool-to-Teacher program in California is doing just that. The effort, from Oakland Unified School District, prepares after-school staff members for teaching careers by providing them with test preparation, credentials counseling, advocacy, cohort support, and a small stipend.