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College enrollment has dropped again since last spring

May 26, 2022
Rising wages for entry-level positions may be luring young people who are opting to work instead of attend college. What might this shift mean for the workforce in the longterm?
Higher education enrollment continues to drop, even after classes have returned to in-person.

Colleges get federal guidance on using COVID relief to support student mental health

May 19, 2022
The Department of Education provided ideas for using these funds, including text-based counseling and suicide-prevention training.
The Department of Education suggested how colleges can invest leftover COVID relief funds in  mental health care.
Sam Wasson/Getty Images

Will tuition waivers make universities more accessible to Indigenous students?

May 2, 2022
The University of California is the latest public land grant university system to waive tuition for some Native American students. But tuition costs are just one financial barrier that keeps Indigenous people from getting degrees.
Starting this fall, tuition will be waved for students enrolled in the University of California system who are citizens of federally recognized tribes. Above, an aerial view of UCLA.
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Biden administration expands Pell Grant program for incarcerated students

Apr 26, 2022
It's a shift from nearly three decades ago, when Congress banned incarcerated people from having access to Pell Grants.
“This gives students who are in prison an opportunity to actually pay tuition at these programs that are going to prepare them to return to life, to find a job and to move on,” says James Kvaal, undersecretary of the Department of Education, about the Second Chance Pell program. Above, inmates read in the library at the York Correctional Institution in Connecticut in 2016.
John Moore/Getty Images

Should colleges help students pay for basic living costs?

Apr 8, 2022
The American Rescue Plan earmarked about $77 billion in higher education relief, with a significant chunk dedicated to helping students with costs outside tuition, including housing, food and clothes.
Above, transit passengers on the Metro C Line in Los Angeles, California.  Grants for schools made available through the American Rescue Plan are providing funds for college students' needs, like public transit or child care.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

Would a new public college campus in California help provide spots for more qualified students?

Mar 31, 2022
There aren't enough seats at 4-year universities for qualified students. How can the state meet the rising demand?
Miranda Evans, special projects manager for the city of Chula Vista, stands on the site that the city has designated for a university or group of universities.
Jill Replogle/KPCC

Students face standardized test dilemma as colleges split on their use

Mar 30, 2022
Some colleges are bringing back SAT and ACT requirements. Others have dropped them permanently. What's a college applicant to do?
More than 1,800 colleges and universities in the U.S. don't require the SAT or ACT for admissions, the National Center for Fair and Open Testing says.
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More states are requiring high schoolers to complete financial aid application

Feb 16, 2022
Applications for federal aid for college have decreased, so schools and states are looking at ways to get more grants into students' hands.
In states that require high school students to fill out the FAFSA, the number of students applying for financial aid has gone up.
Tero Vesalainen/Getty Images

University students flock to supply chain majors

Feb 7, 2022
The pandemic boosted demand for these professionals — and upped their pay. New challenges include last-mile delivery and sustainability.
Widespread remote learning is one change the pandemic brought to higher education. New interest in supply chain management appears to be another.
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