Education
Delays in the awarding of financial aid prevent students from attending college
NEW YORK (AP) – For many students, the excitement of being accepted into their first-choice college this 12 months is tempered by troubling uncertainty about whether they are going to receive the financial aid they need.
Financial aid decisions, which generally result in acceptance letters, are delayed attributable to later-than-expected implementation and revised Free Application for Federal Student Aida form commonly often known as FAFSA that schools use to calculate financial aid.
The result: students and their parents postpone their decision to check.
“We won’t make a choice without knowing what we’re entering into financially; that will be irresponsible,” said Jenny Nicholas of Keene, New Hampshire. She desires to make sure that that her son, a highschool graduate, will go to college that will probably be the most cost-effective for his or her family.
The Department of Education said it will be easier for fogeys to finish the form and used a brand new formula to calculate aid entitlement, taking inflation into consideration. However, it was not ready in October, when forms are often issued for the upcoming school 12 months. This was the case during the soft launch in December difficult for many individuals to access the form. The first version didn’t include an updated inflation tool.
Schools won’t receive the information they should award financial aid until next month, forcing them to adapt. Some have moved away from the popular May 1 deadline for students to just accept offers of admission.
Last week, for instance, Virginia Tech announced that it had moved up its freshman admissions deadline to May 15. “Families are understandably concerned about this year’s FAFSA process and tell us they need more time to make fully informed decisions,” Juan Espinoza, interim vice chancellor for enrollment management, said in an announcement.
The school said it expects to notify families about financial aid in mid-April.
“We can’t make a decision until we receive the financial aid package,” said Agatha James, mother of a New York highschool senior from Queens. “Everything is on hold.”
Son James’ decision is torn between two colleges, one in his home state and the other at an out-of-state university that’s his dream school. However, James says the decision will rely upon what she will afford without accumulating a great amount of student loan debt.
The Department of Education said it was working to mitigate the consequences of the delays. Some of the steps taken include reducing verification requirements, sending federal experts to under-resourced schools and allocating money for technical assistance to nonprofit groups.
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“We are committed to getting this right,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in an announcement earlier this month. “We must and we will.”
More than 17 million students use the FAFSA every year to receive financial aid for college. The department said greater than 4 million forms had been successfully submitted as of mid-February.
Rachel Reniva of Dothan, Alabama, said the decision to grant financial aid would impact not only her son’s future, but in addition her entire family’s.
Even though the Department of Education has said the latest app will probably be easier to make use of, some students and oldsters are still having trouble applying.
Jesus Noyola, a sophomore at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, said he was unable to submit the form because of an error in the important part of the application.
“It’s disappointing and very stressful because it takes forever to solve all these problems,” said Noyola, who receives scholarships and tuition to finance his education.
Other errors have been linked to Social Security numbers, said Travis Hill, director of Dallas County Promise, a college success program in Texas.
Parents without legal immigration status cannot file their portion of the application because they shouldn’t have a Social Security number. Other parents also encounter errors when linking their Social Security number to their child’s FAFSA application.
“I feel stressed,” said Lorenzo Jaramillo, 17, a highschool senior who wants to check computer engineering. Although Jaramillo lives in Toronto, he’s a U.S. citizen and due to this fact eligible for financial assistance.
Helen Faith, director of the Office of Financial Aid at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, expressed concern that delays would harm each students and schools.
“As a result, our underrepresented and most vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected,” Hill said.
Education
Mississippi College changes name and eliminates football program
Mississippi College embraces its Christian ideology with a name change.
Mississippi College, a non-public institution, is changing its name to Mississippi Christian College. The decision was approved by the Mississippi Board of Supervisors on November 18.
The university can be eliminating its Division 1 football team in an effort to prioritize academic offerings. In an announcement, the university cited the upcoming bicentenary because the inspiration for the changes.
Mississippi Christian College wants to construct on its Christian ideology, in line with President Bake Thompson.
“These transformational and necessary changes are critically important to the future of this institution. As we look ahead to the institution’s bicentennial in 2026, we want to ensure that MC is a university recognized for academic excellence and commitment to Christ for another 200 years.”
The college is rededicated to making a space where Christian education stays a priority.
“The institution may even undergo restructuring. A brand new structure will likely be introduced, which can mix the College of Christianity and Art with the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the College of Pedagogy will change its name to the College of Pedagogy and Human Sciences. The chancellor was charged with evaluating the potential consolidation of a limited number of educational departments on campus.
Mississippi Christian Athletic Director Kenny Bizott reaffirmed his commitment to former student-athletes.
“We will support our current student-athletes who wish to continue their education at MC, as well as those who wish to transfer,” Bizott added.
Many may view these changes as extreme, but Mississippi Christian believes that every latest organizational change will help the institution fulfill its core functions.
Another Mississippi institution can be within the news for its failures on the legislative level. reported the Mississippi State Senate no payment Legislative Services Office (LSO) attorney Kristie Metcalfe is paid commensurate along with her peers.
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the Mississippi LSO on Metcalfe’s behalf. An office investigation found that Metcalfe was earning half the salary of white LSO lawyers. The investigation also found that Metcalfe is the one non-white worker employed within the office’s 34 years of operation. Race discrimination violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Education
Florida education officials report hundreds of books pulled from school libraries, including Toni Morrison, Richard Wright and Maya Angelou
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye.” “Forever” by Judi Blume. “Slaughterhouse Five” by Kurt Vonnegut.
According to the newest information, all of them have been withdrawn from the shelves of some Florida schools list developed by the Florida Department of Education and containing books removed by local school districts.
Recent changes in state law have made it possible for fogeys and residents to take this motion challenge books to school libraries and required districts to submit an annual report to the state detailing which books were restricted of their schools. Florida continues to steer the nation in withdrawing books from school libraries, in accordance with an evaluation by the American Library Association and the advocacy group PEN America.
“Restricting access means limiting the freedom to read,” said Kasey Meehan of PEN America. “Students are losing the opportunity to access books that reflect their own life experiences, to access books that help them learn and to empathize with people who… have different life experiences.”
The list, published for the 2023-2024 school yr, includes titles by American literary icons similar to Maya Angelou, Flannery O’Connor and Richard Wright, in addition to books which have turn into top targets for censorship across the country as a consequence of LGBTQ+ characters, discussions about gender and sexuality and descriptions of sexual encounters, e.g. “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George Johnson and “Gender Queer” by Maja Kobabe. Supporters of conservatism have described such content as “pornographic.”
The list of books removed from libraries also includes Holocaust accounts similar to “The Diary of Anne Frank: A Graphic Adaptation” and “Sophie’s Choice.” It’s an analogous story with the graphic novel, an adaptation of “1984,” George Orwell’s groundbreaking work on censorship and surveillance.
“Everywhere from Toni Morrison to Alice Walker to Slaughterhouse-Five to George Orwell,” said Stephana Farrell, co-founder of the Florida Freedom to Read Project, which tracks book challenges within the state. “If you take the time to look through this list, you will see that there is a problem with… this movement.”
In an announcement to the Associated Press, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Education maintained that no books have been banned in Florida and defended the state’s efforts to remove “sexually explicit material” from schools.
“Once again, far-left activists are promoting the book ban scam to Floridians. “The better question is why these activists continue to fight to expose children to sexually explicit material,” spokeswoman Sydney Booker said.
The list shows that the number of book withdrawals varies widely across the state, with some districts reporting no restrictions and others reporting hundreds of titles pulled from shelves. Farrell of the Florida Freedom to Read Project said that based on the group’s evaluation of public records, the department’s report is an undercount since it doesn’t include books removed in consequence of an internal staff review, only those withdrawn in consequence of a grievance filed by a parent or resident.
Farrell believes that almost all Florida parents want their children to have broad access to literature.
“We live in a country where parental rights should be recognized, heard and taken into account,” Farrell said. “We are asking for accountability and an accurate record of the impact of these laws on our children and what is available to them.”
Schools have restricted access to dozens of books by Stephen King, a master of the horror genre known for bestsellers similar to “It” and “Pet Sematary.” Clay County officials also found his book, “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft,” inappropriate for college kids.
King, who spends part of the yr in Florida, talked about attempting to get his books out of students’ hands, urging readers to run to the closest library or bookstore.
“What the hell?” In August, King posted on social media reacting to the choice of some Florida schools to drag his books from shelves.
Multiple school districts in Florida have filed legal challenges for restricting students’ access to books, including Escambia County, which is being sued by PEN America and Random penguin housethe biggest publisher within the country.
Nassau County School District in September settled lawsuit brought by the authors of “And Tango Makes Three,” an image book based on the true story of two male penguins who raised a chick together at New York’s Central Park Zoo. Under the terms of the settlement, the district needed to return three dozen books to the shelves.
Education
Issa Rae meets with Georgia law students
Rae will speak to students about legal issues related to her success.
Georgia State University College of Law announced that Issa Rae will meet with students to debate the legal elements of her successful profession as a part of the course “The Legal Life of Issa Rae.”
On November 7, the producer-actress will hold a hearing at Rialto Art Center. The visit is the culmination of a course exploring Rae’s decades-long profession within the entertainment industry. Rae’s profession provides a wealth of legal diversity to explore as her profession extends beyond visual entertainment.
The classes are held as a part of the “Legal Life…” series. The series was created by George State University law professor Moraima “Mo” Ivory.
As a professor at Georgia State College of Law, Ivory curated a series that examined the legality of maintaining a prestigious profession. As reported, Rae is a course subject this semester BLACK ENTERPRISES.
The creator’s team worked with Ivory to take an in depth take a look at the contracts that helped Rae secure her deals.
“With the support of her team, we will also have the unique opportunity to analyze her real-world deals and discuss how her approach to deals is shaping today’s entertainment landscape. We are incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity,” Ivory told .
It was classy access for 10 years value of contractual agreements to be analyzed.
“This is the first class where every contract was an actual contract with the artist,” Ivory said. “Students can see how real deals actually happen and what real entertainment lawyer Issa Rae has been doing over the last 10 years.”
Ivory, a professor and Fulton County commissioner, believes that the language of the law is vital and that the power to see the language in connection with a noteworthy product allows students to beat the barrier of unfamiliarity.
“You have to look at what people are actually doing and what is happening at the moment. The more familiar they become with the language, the faster they will be able to master it and start representing clients.”
According to Ivory, Rae’s family and business partners were instrumental in checking out the complicated details of her business. The course was attended by “Rae’s mother, siblings, network executives and members of her staff.”
The longtime artist began her profession on YouTube with “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.” The show’s success led to a collaboration with host Larry Wilmore and a multi-show deal with HBO. Outside of television, Rae is a successful actress and producer of many shows including (2022). She also created her own media company HooRae media and music label Raedio.
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