Daily Lumina News 111521

Half of all states now enable their community colleges to offer bachelor's degrees.
Debra Bragg, co-author of a New America report on the community college baccalaureate landscape, describes what the research says about these programs, how to gauge their effectiveness, and why so many students struggle along the traditional path of transferring from two-year to four-year institutions.

Several organizations are working to eliminate barriers so that more Black, Latino, low-income, and first-generation students can earn college degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.
Many of these programs target students as early as possible to demystify the fields and get students comfortable with them long before they apply for college.

Free community college is missing from the proposed new $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act, but the measure still provides significant support for adult students and the colleges that help them learn and earn.
Importantly, the bill’s current version includes much-needed community college investments that could help hundreds of thousands of students—including people of color who face tough barriers to education—get the skills and credentials they need to thrive in today’s economy.

To the better-known symbols of the pandemic—face masks, nasal swabs, and vaccine cards—add the informally dubbed “COVID car,” a van retrofitted with plexiglass dividers, or a medical-transport vehicle repurposed for the task, or sometimes even a golf cart.
A familiar sight on many campuses, it’s one answer to the logistical question of what to do when residential students test positive for the virus.

The Roux Institute in Portland, Maine, is among a small but largely unnoticed number of new colleges opening these days.
Some are focusing on high-demand disciplines. Others are serving the huge number of older, working Americans who never went to college or didn’t complete a degree. Still others are trying to remake higher education with new models that forgo top-heavy bureaucracies and expensive campuses.

Last week, Spelman College and the nonprofit, Braven, announced a new partnership that will enable all Spelman sophomores a two-part career-accelerating experience. Fellows will receive additional support to land a strong first job or enter graduate school.
The news is part of a broader trend of more employers and nonprofit groups partnering with Historically Black Colleges and Universities on career development.