Hundreds of colleges and universities had financial warning signs long before the coronavirus threatened to make everything worse

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Liz Willen Dear reader,

Long before the coronavirus upended higher education, many U.S. colleges and universities were finding themselves in serious financial trouble, ([link removed]) due to declines in both enrollment and state support, and some poor decision-making ([link removed]) . And the oversight system in many cases broke down, too. When dozens of colleges had to close their doors, what happened to students ([link removed]) as a result?

Our team put together an interactive tool assessing financial “warning signs” at more than 2,600 colleges and universities. You can plug in a college’s name and get a sense of its financial stresses.

We partnered on this project in a special collaboration with NBC News Digital. ([link removed]) In addition to the analysis, four stories help you understand what all this means for students going forward. Check it out. As always, we’d love to hear from you.

Liz Willen, Editor
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Main Idea


** Colleges in Crisis ([link removed])
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Hundreds of colleges and universities had financial warning signs long before the coronavirus threatened to make everything worse. Our Hechinger Report/NBCNews.com collaboration ([link removed]) analyzed higher education’s poor financial health, explored how it got that way and looked at the ultimate consequences for students. Search for your college or university with our financial fitness tracker ([link removed]) .

✔️Analysis: Hundreds of colleges and universities show financial warning signs ([link removed])
✔️Getting a college degree was their dream. Then their school suddenly closed ([link removed])
✔️With higher ed in crisis, the lack of financial oversight is glaring ([link removed])
✔️How higher education’s own choices left it vulnerable to the pandemic crisis ([link removed])
Reading List


** PROOF POINTS: A crowdsourcing approach to homework help ([link removed])
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An early experiment in asking teachers to write helpful hints shows promise.


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Jobless college students are being given summer jobs to mentor younger peers ([link removed])
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Expanded coaching aims to keep incoming freshmen on track for college and prevent “Covid-19 slide” among elementary kids.


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OPINION: ‘Institutions must be held accountable for how they are failing Black academics — and Black women academics in particular’ ([link removed])
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The untold stories of an underrepresented group.



** STUDENT VOICE: ‘How can I ensure my own survival when there are no guarantees for even my healthiest college classmates?’ ([link removed])
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In light of the pandemic, students with chronic illnesses should think hard about whether going back to school in the fall is worth it.



** OPINION: The dire need for significant federal investment in U.S. colleges and their students ([link removed])
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To help students, Congress should start by doubling the maximum Pell Grant.


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COLUMN: Black college grads end up with $25,000 more in loans than whites. Cancel that debt. ([link removed])
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Canceling loans for people who have been denied wealth-building opportunities is a moral and economic imperative.
Solutions
* "What Other Countries Can Teach The U.S. About Safely Reopening Schools ([link removed]) ," Huffington Post
* "School openings across globe suggest ways to keep coronavirus at bay, despite outbreaks ([link removed]) ," Science/AAAS

This week’s solutions section came from SolutionsU ([link removed]) powered by Solutions Journalism Network and their database of solutions journalism. Search ([link removed]) for more solutions.
Emily Oster, an economics professor at Brown University, is collecting and sharing data on school and childcare coronavirus outbreaks. Read more about it: "Triangulating Evidence on Outbreaks in Kid Settings ([link removed]) ."
👋 Contact Nichole Dobo at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) to give feedback on The Hechinger Report’s newsletters. Did you know we produce newsletters on early childhood ([link removed]) , education research ([link removed]) , the future of learning ([link removed]) , higher education ([link removed]) and the state of Mississippi ([link removed]) ? And it helps us if you recommend our newsletters to a friend.
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