Daily Lumina News 112420

Leanza Curtiss, 26, is a junior at Northwestern Michigan College. She has big plans for her future. The fact that she’s in college at all is significant. Curtiss spent a large portion of her childhood in the foster-care system.
About 40 percent of young people in foster care graduate from high school. Half of those transition to higher education, and just 3 to 11 percent graduate from college with a degree, according to Fostering Success Michigan, an organization that helps young people in the foster-care system access and complete college.

Lack of resources, counseling, and information are a few of the factors preventing high-achieving, low-income students from applying to, enrolling in, and succeeding at selective institutions. A new report outlines policy interventions that can help break down these barriers.

Student loan debt in the United States totals around $1.7 trillion—more than debt on cars or credit cards. The incoming Joe Biden administration has signaled that it is willing to consider some form of loan debt forgiveness, but critics worry it will not address the root causes.
Kevin Carey of New America offers insight on what is driving this debt growth.

This was the year when colleges had to throw out their plans for freshmen. Many colleges offered only online instruction, or had students on campus but still taking most of their classes online. Nationally, freshman enrollment is down 13 percent.
But Mount St. Mary's University, in Maryland, which last captured media attention for a certain scandal in 2016, is having an unusually successful year. Many credit Timothy E. Trainor.

Normally during times of economic upheaval, people flock to community colleges for education and training to improve their job prospects or jumpstart a new career.
The pandemic has changed that scenario, with enrollment tumbling this fall at community colleges. Many would-be learners have suffered job losses and can no longer afford to take classes. Some must care for children whose school is now virtual. Others are struggling with limited internet access and overall uncertainty about the future.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County periodically reaches out to students who left the school without completing their degrees, usually enticing a dozen or so to return. But the coronavirus pandemic presented the university with a new opportunity—and a new campaign to get more stopped-out students back on track.