In this week's roundup:
COVID-19 forces students to move out early, student loan interest rates will soon be on the rise, and in-person graduations celebrate the classes of 2020, 2021 and 2022.
May 5-11
- As institutions celebrate the graduation of the Class of 2022, there are also graduations for the “pandemic classes” of 2020 and 2021 taking place in-person this year. Some institutions will include the Classes of 2020 and 2021 in their commencement ceremonies and some provide them with their own ceremony.
- Law schools may no longer be requiring standardized tests such as the LSAT for admission. The American Bar Association may allow institutions to require a test “if they wish.” Leaders within the ABA say they are more concerned with student performance than scores on an entrance exam.
- Women in college sports have been struggling with mental health more recently, which is a crisis, according to Ellen J. Staurowsky, professor of sports media at Ithaca College. The academic and athletic demands for student-athletes have escalated during the pandemic.
- Interest rates for new federal student loan borrowers will soon increase, while talk of cancelling all or part of federal student loans continues.
- Drake University has asked undergraduates to move out from residence halls one week before their Spring semester ends due to a surge of COVID-19 cases. The university in Des Moines, IA, saw the number of cases double in just one day with results from over 500 tests to be revealed.
- Faculty in the University of Georgia system will have less of a role in presidential searches. This latest policy has faculty feeling exiled due to lack of transparency.
- Graduate students at Indiana University are ending their strike, for now. The Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition had been on strike since April, with claims of low wages and poor working conditions.
- An anonymous donor has paid off student loans for the Class of 2022 at Wiley College. The announcement was made during their commencement ceremony.
- A noose hanging from a tree on Stanford University’s campus is being investigated as a hate crime. Stanford officials condemned the anti-Black racism and violence associated with the noose and acknowledged that it wasn’t the first time it has happened on their campus.
- The University of Texas system plans to help students with post-college career success via microcredentials. Earning these certifications allows students to demonstrate a specific skill that will “serve and satisfy some of that demand for a skilled workforce,” according to UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell.
