Daily Lumina News 110121

Paul LeBlanc knows firsthand how higher education can change a person’s life. As an immigrant, he reaped the benefits of America’s higher education system—one that he says doesn’t work for enough people today.
LeBlanc, president of Southern New Hampshire University, discusses the way in which higher education needs to change to be more accessible for all students.

Loaning the occasional laptop is not a new practice in higher education, but providing them and other resources en masse—and for the entirety of a student's undergraduate career—may be. But that's exactly what eight institutions in the California State University system are doing.
The effort is designed to make sure students without access to computers or technology are not left behind. Partnerships with some institutions have also been prompted by tech companies looking to better support more students.

Richard Cordray, the head of the office of Federal Student Aid, oversees the federal student loans of roughly 43 million borrowers.
Cordray met with lawmakers last week for just over three hours to share new details about resuming federal student loan repayments after a pandemic pause, his agency's handling of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, the possibility of broader loan forgiveness—and whether he would hold executives liable for the collapse of colleges that defrauded students.

More universities are announcing employee vaccine mandates in response to President Biden’s Sept. 9 order requiring vaccination for employees of federal contractors.
But with the deadline for vaccination fast approaching, some universities are still studying the order or determining next steps.