Education
Congress knows how to slash child poverty. It just needs to do it.
If you could prevent millions of children from falling back into poverty, would you? Most of us, I imagine, would answer “yes” without hesitation. But not Congress. For nearly a year, lawmakers in Washington, D.C., have dithered as the policy directly responsible for a dramatic decline in poverty last year lapsed. It’s time for Congress […]
Student loan repayment pause extended by White House amid legal battles over relief plan
WASHINGTON — The Department of Education announced on Tuesday it is extending the pandemic-era pause on federal student loan repayments until June 30 while legal challenges to the administration’s student debt relief program are fought over in the courts. The agency said if the student debt relief program has not been put in place by […]
Louisiana Higher Ed: LSU students call out campus security problems
The Louisiana Illuminator takes a weekly look at news from universities and colleges around the state. Have a tip or want to submit a Louisiana Higher Ed news item? Contact [email protected] LSU students petition for campus safety Four LSU student groups are calling on university leaders to make changes to ensure the safety of students. […]
Gov. Edwards issues state apology for fatal 1972 shootings at Southern University
By Drew Hawkins and Claire Sullivan Gov. John Bel Edwards apologized Wednesday on behalf of the state to former Southern University protest leaders and the families of two Southern students who were killed by an unidentified sheriff’s deputy 50 years ago. “To the extent that the state of Louisiana can try to make this right, […]
Report: Students at schools that close unlikely to continue education elsewhere
Less than half of students whose colleges closed between 2004 and 2020 went on to enroll at another school, according to an analysis of school closures. Between 2004 and 2020, approximately 12,000 campuses closed, impacting nearly 150,000 students. Of those schools, 78% were for-profit colleges. Louisiana has not been immune to the wave of for-profit […]
Racist, misogynistic slurs, discrimination noted in lawsuit against Sun Belt Conference
Editor’s note: This article contains links to uncensored deposition testimony that includes racist and misogynistic language. NEW ORLEANS – Officials at the top levels of a college sports conference headquartered in New Orleans used or tolerated racist and misogynistic slurs that created a hostile work environment, according to recent filings in a 2021 lawsuit by […]
FBI confirms a single juvenile suspect behind most bomb threats to dozens of HBCUs
WASHINGTON — The FBI has officially announced that a single minor youth is the main suspect in most racially motivated bomb threats to dozens of Historically Black Colleges and Universities earlier this year that terrorized students. The FBI in a statement on Monday did not release any further details — only that the individual is […]
Six GOP-led states win national injunction against Biden student debt relief plan
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Monday issued a nationwide injunction indefinitely blocking the Biden administration’s student debt relief program in response to a challenge by six GOP-led states. The unanimous ruling by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis came after the six states — Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and […]
Pain, lessons remain decades after Southern shooting
By Claire Sullivan, Brittany Dunn, Shelly Kleinpeter and Allison Allsop Last of a four-part series (Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) Shunda Wallace was 3 months old when her father, Leonard Brown, and another student, Denver Smith, were shot dead by a sheriff’s deputy on Southern University’s campus in November 1972. Fifty years later, […]
Louisiana Higher Ed: UNO students reject football fee, Southern to memorialize 1972 tragedy
The Louisiana Illuminator takes a weekly look at news from universities and colleges around the state. Have a tip or want to submit a Louisiana Higher Ed news item? Contact [email protected] University of New Orleans students overwhelmingly rejected a fee increase of $300 per semester to support new athletic programs at the university, including a […]
Biden student debt relief plan thrown out by Texas judge; new applications halted
WASHINGTON — Late Thursday a federal judge in Texas struck down the Biden administration’s student debt relief plan, ruling that the program is unlawful, in a blow to 16 million student debt borrowers already approved for relief. The U.S. Department of Education now is no longer accepting applications for the program, according to the student […]
After 1972 Southern shootings, deputies deny knowing who fired fatal shots
Third story in a four-part series By Drew Hawkins, Adrian Dubose, Allison Allsop and Alex Tirado At 12:35 p.m. on Nov. 17, 1972, the phone rang in the office of acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray in Washington. It was Deputy Attorney General Ralph Erickson, calling to order an investigation into the shooting of the […]