Daily Lumina News 101422

Americans have growing doubts about the value of a college degree. Can this mindset be changed by embracing a new definition of higher education excellence—one that measures what colleges do for the country and the vital role they can play in their communities to ensure learning and earning are aligned?
Many education watchers say, "yes."

The fact that Otto Lewis, a sophomore at Western Kentucky University, made it to college at all sets him apart from the majority of people with autism, who enroll at rates well below most of their peers with other types of disabilities.
That he got to try college a second time, this time with the support of a program for students with autism, makes him doubly fortunate.

In January, Maurice Watts was released from prison after completing a four-year sentence in a federal penitentiary. At 43 and without a college degree, job prospects were slim. Reentering the workforce wouldn’t be easy.
Watts is fortunate. Through a program known as Next Chapter, Watts received job training, secured a short-term loan to pay for food and gas, and developed the communication skills he needed to land a stable job.

Research shows that Black borrowers are more deeply indebted than their white counterparts. In addition to accumulating more debt, they also struggle to repay their debt.
These stark racial disparities in student loan-debt accumulation and repayment make it clear that race and racial inequality are central to understanding student-loan debt in the United States. Any discussion of student debt that fails to consider race is missing a crucial piece of the puzzle.

Given some of the unknowns for transfer students—such as which institution they will move to and how many of their credits will apply to program completion—it’s often difficult to estimate what a bachelor’s degree will cost.
A new transfer scholarship from the University of Arkansas aims to address those affordability challenges—and increase student transfer success along the way.

Working in a region of rural Arkansas long plagued by teacher shortages, Eveon Rivers seems like the perfect candidate to lead a classroom. But she's missing just one qualification: a bachelor’s degree.
A program that hopes to combat rural teacher shortages by upskilling qualified school staff is helping her realize her dreams—at a bargain price. Rivers pays $75 per month and has only three more semesters left before she graduates and can get her teaching certification.