By Kajsa Larson and Mark Neikirk for The Conversation.
Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan for Indiana News Service

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. -- College students at Northern Kentucky University (NKU) are participating in a program that allows them to give away thousands of dollars in grants to local nonprofits, and a new study shows those students are more likely to graduate.

Researchers found among 500 students who took the philanthropy class when they were sophomores, 58% went on to graduate versus 24% overall.

Kajsa Larson, associate professor of Spanish and faculty coordinator for the Mayerson Student Philanthropy Project classes at NKU, said community engagement makes the topics studied in the classroom real and relevant.

"I think that the incorporation of student philanthropy in the class makes students more engaged," Larson contended. "And we've seen that in our own students and our own classrooms, but the data also reflects that."

The program is the brainchild of former NKU president James Votruba and Neal Mayerson, a psychotherapist, businessman and philanthropist. The money NKU students give away comes primarily from individual and foundation donors.

Mark Neikirk, executive director of the Scripps Howard Center for Civic Engagement at NKU said the program began in the fall of 2000 with only a few classes. Now, about fifteen classes participate a semester.

Typically, each class awards $2000 at the end of the course. He explained hands-on philanthropy helps students make connections between their studies and real-world implications.

"In various measures of student success, adding philanthropy amplifies student performance and amplifies their likelihood to stay and graduate," Neikirk asserted.

Neikirk added more than 82% of the students surveyed at the end of their Mayerson class said the philanthropy component had a positive impact on their sense of personal responsibility to their community.

Kajsa Larson and Mark Neikirk wrote this article for The Conversation.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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AUSTIN, Texas - A new national survey of community and technical colleges highlights the importance of job-focused education and training.

It finds 35% of students at these schools are taking non-credit courses that lead to industry certifications and credentials. That's a change from students who used to stick with academic courses designed to transfer to a four year school.

Tamar Jacoby - president of Opportunity America, the group that did the survey - said community and technical colleges offer students, whether they're 18 or 48, an affordable pathway to a career.

"Community college students can be job-focused or not job focused,' said Jacoby. "They can be learning welding or nursing or they can be learning liberal arts and sociology."

Texas' Commissioner of Higher Education Harrison Keller says many students enrolled in non-credit programs later pursue four year degrees, but on average, only 20% of community colleges allow students to leverage non-credit learning for college credit.

According to the survey, of the nation's 10.5 million community college students, about three quarters are older than 25.

Last week, the Austin Community College District announced a new partnership with Toyota Motor North America, called "Technician Training and Education Network," to begin next fall. It's designed to provide a pipeline to careers with Toyota and Lexus.

Chauncy Lennon, vice president for learning and work at Lumina Foundation, said the next challenge is getting more American businesses to cross-promote innovation.

"Get industries to come together and better identify their shared skill needs," said Lennon. "And then, signal those over to the community-college system."

A survey question about partnerships between community colleges and local employers found that only about 36% of employer partners offer workplace-based learning opportunities.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

PORTLAND, Ore. - A growing slice of the workforce is Hispanic, but a disproportionate number of Hispanic households don't have regular access to the internet. It could be cutting many off from the digital economy. An initiative is aiming to tackle this issue.

In Oregon, the Hispanic population grew 30% between the 2010 and 2020 census, comprising 14% of the state's population.

Diana Caba, assistant vice president for policy and community engagement with the Hispanic Federation, said one way to ensure people in these communities have the skills they need for the economy is to meet them where they are.

"Recognizing that new technologies are dramatically changing the workforce requirements of our economy." said Caba, "For Latino nonprofits that are engaged in workforce training to best serve the needs of the people they train the idea is to adapt a curriculum and develop capacity to prepare students and workers for the digital economy."

The Latino Digital Accelerator Initiative currently operates in ten states, including Washington and California, but not yet in Oregon. However, the need is great across the nation: as many as one-third of Latino families don't have regular access to the internet.

Caba said the Latino Digital Accelerator Initiative started just before the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented a new challenge.

"With the onset of the pandemic," said Caba, "that really led everyone from a panic to pivot moment of how do we administer these types of programs for the community knowing that that's exactly what this initiative is there to address - the lack of digital skills that are found in the Latino community."

Caba said the future belongs to those who are connected. She said that applies not just to people looking to connect to education resources like universities, but also for people who may be on less traditional paths like technical colleges and apprenticeships.

"To be able to still access quality training that will lead to quality employment," said Caba, "that really at the end of the day is what this initiative boils down to."

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - State Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, is lashing out against the idea of Critical Race Theory, filing a bill to ban its use in all government institutions, including universities.

Critical Race Theory is described as an upper-level academic framework that examines whether and how systems and policies perpetuate racism. The topic has become a lightning rod for conservatives across the country, who claim it's being taught in grade schools.

Fine, who is white, has said the topic is inherently racist. However, state Rep. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando, who is Black, said that in grade school, she was taught European history.

"Not any focus at all on the free labor that our people gave that made the American economy a superpower that it became," she said. "And is it racist, then, that I only got European history? I think so."

Gov. Ron DeSantis already had issued a ban on discussing Critical Race Theory in public schools in June, in the racial unrest following the killing of George Floyd. Thompson said she believes African American history - which is separate from Critical Race Theory - should be taught because it's part of American history.

Thompson has filed bills advocating teaching African American history in schools. She noted that since 1994, Florida law has required African American history be taught in all 67 counties. However, she said, research by the Florida Department of Education's African American History Task Force has shown the law is being ignored.

"They have found that only 11 of the 67 counties are actually providing acceptable instruction in African American history," she said.

Thompson said what she considers "acceptable" is instruction beyond Black History Month. Fine's bill includes a 10-point list of what it calls "divisive concepts" to be banned. They include topics around sexism and "race or sex scapegoating." The proposal also bans teaching that one race or sex is inherently superior to another, that the United States is fundamentally racist or sexist, or that individuals are inherently racist, sexist or oppressive based on their own race or gender.