UC to Launch Its First Bachelor’s Program in Prison

COURTESY OF: KQED News UC Irvine and the state prison system have reached a deal to create the first University of California bachelor’s degree program behind bars. Since California opened the door for community colleges to teach in prisons in 2014, some 2,000 incarcerated men and women across the state have earned associate degrees, said Brant Choate, director of rehabilitative …

‘Losing A Generation’: Fall College Enrollment Plummets For 1st-Year Students

COURTESY OF: NPR News All throughout high school, Brian Williams planned to go to college. But as the pandemic eroded the final moments of his senior year, the Stafford, Texas, student began to second-guess that plan. “I’m terrible at online school,” Williams says. He was barely interested in logging on for his final weeks of high school; being online for …

Navigating the transition between K-12 and higher education – virtually

COURTESY OF: CAL MATTERS Throughout October and November, hundreds of thousands of high school seniors from every part of the state take the first step toward realizing their academic and professional goals by applying to a California State University campus. In this new COVID-19 reality, too many students will have to navigate the transition between K-12 and higher education virtually, …

COVID-19, summer melt a one-two punch to colleges and students alike

COURTESY OF: By Catalina Cifuentes and Marlene Garcia PE.com Real-life stories of the extreme challenges and anxiety COVID-19 has brought upon our state’s college students ring frighteningly loud and true: most have lost all or most of their income sources, many have changed their college plans and uprooted their living arrangements, and some have had their college aspirations completely derailed …

One student’s journey to join the largest group of Latino students admitted to the University of California

COURTESY OF: Betty Márquez Rosales EdSource.org As they approached a traffic checkpoint in Long Beach, close to their home, Johana Resendiz, then 7 years old, didn’t realize her life was about to change. She and her younger sister were riding with her father, a U.S. resident and passed through easily. Her mother, who drove behind in a second car, was …

‘I Am Beyond Worried’: More HS Students Are Applying for Financial Aid — and Enrolling in College as a Result. Coronavirus May Put an End to Both

COURTESY OF: Charlotte West The74Million.org When Akyiaha Simpson, a senior at California’s Orange Vista High School, started applying to college last fall, she wasn’t sure how she was going to pay for it. The first step? Filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). It was a requirement not only to get money for college but also to …