Daily Lumina News 091923

Kendra Wilmer, a rising high school senior, had planned to write a college entrance essay about her struggles as a Black student in a predominantly white school. But on this particular morning, she wasn’t so sure.
It’s the first college application season since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that colleges and universities can no longer consider race in the admissions process. Schools are now attempting to find new ways to pursue racial and ethnic diversity in their student enrollments, while applicants adjust their tactics.

Most colleges and universities offer monthly payment plans as an alternative to student loans or a way to reduce the amount needed to borrow. Students can pay for educational expenses over a semester or the full school year without being charged interest.
Not so fast, says a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The study is warning students that they could encounter a host of unforeseen fees that significantly drive up the cost of the plan.

As New College of Florida continues to move in a different ideological direction, former students and faculty members are building what they see as an educational resistance.
They have joined national and international free-speech and education groups to form “Alt New College,” a network of online courses for students who remain at the revamped New College and, as critics see it, face limits on what they can learn and say.

Less than half of Hoosier college students finish their degrees on time, but new funding for "success coaches" could soon change that.
The Indiana State Budget Committee just approved $2.5 million to embed 31 success coaches in higher education institutions across the state. Coaches will initially focus on getting pre-approved students to complete enrollment. And because many students drop out during their first year, the coaches will also concentrate on first-year retention.

Supporting Native American student success is more than just an institutional goal at Mendocino College in Ukiah, California. It’s a promise to heal broken trust between Native communities and higher education.
A soon-to-launch Native American Student Support and Success program adds to the school's decades-old commitment to equitably serve the local community and bridge gaps in degree completion.

Students, professors, and experts warn that West Virginia University’s drastic intent to eliminate 28 academic programs and lay off 143 faculty members will have dire consequences for the university, the state, and higher education as a whole.
Last week, despite pleas from students and faculty to reconsider, the university’s board of governors approved the sweeping plan of cuts amid a $45 million budget deficit.