If passed, the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021 would offer an eight-year pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently in the U.S. It would allow them to apply for temporary legal status followed by a green card five years later. Three years after that, eligible green card holders could become citizens.

The legislation could also provide immediate access to green cards for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which protects people brought to the U.S. as children from deportation and allows them to legally work in the country.

One of the seven goals listed in the strategy is to support schools, colleges and businesses in safely reopening while supporting workers. The document calls for more guidance to colleges to that end. “Given the diversity of settings in which colleges operate and the diversity of services they offer, postsecondary institutions need detailed guidance on recommended COVID-19 protocols that covers a variety of scenarios,” the strategy document states.

Young, brilliant, and talented, Amanda Gorman is taking the world by storm. The 22-year-old poet, writer, and activist was born with special needs, but Gorman didn’t let that stop her from setting massive goals and obtaining them.

Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced a series of steps his Administration is taking to support New York City youth and young adults – both current students and those who are out of school and unemployed – as they weather the effects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Measures include a campaign with CUNY to engage 5,000 young adults to enroll in college this spring, as well as an initiative to connect more than 2,000 high school students with paid internships and opportunities to earn college credit.

“They’re taking 8 or 9 classes,” said one Manhattan principal who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “It’s an impossible task for someone passing all their classes let alone someone who didn’t pass.”

The pandemic, which shuttered schools in March and continues to disrupt all levels of education, has created unprecedented turmoil for the SAT and the rival ACT admission test. Many college-bound students have struggled since spring to find testing centers available at the right time and place.

At college, no one makes you go to class, and I thought I’d give our incoming freshmen some advice that no one else will. Don’t take this as invitation to skip that excruciating discussion of medieval history, but sometimes ditching is important, in the same way that learning to manage your time wisely is important, and the same way that, although painful, failing is important, too.

Some of the campus emergency funds were created in response to the pandemic while others are established student assistance programs that have mounted special fundraising campaigns to assist the large number of students in need during the crisis. They include a COVID emergency fund at Hunter College that has raised $1.3 million and provided emergency aid to more than 2,000 students, and a campaign by Lehman College that raised $1.1 million and helped 1,200 students.

The traditional deadline for college-bound students to accept admission offers is May 1. But the coronavirus crisis has led some colleges to push that decision day back to June 1 or later. Here’s a list of those that have made that move.

What can COVID-19 teach us about access to college? Last March, the admission scandal opened the nation’s eyes to many inequities on the road to a college acceptance, and almost exactly a year later, we find ourselves faced with another unexpected learning opportunity. Perhaps the growing crisis associated with the virus provides an opening to examine admission policies and practices and re-center the experience around issues of access and equity.