ERWC Class of 2020: September 2019

Lindsey Balbierz for NPR

Happy Sunday,

This week, we wanted to share the latest from NPR’s Life Kit team: a guide on how to succeed at college.

NPR’s Elissa Nadworny talks about how the first year of college is crucial for setting students up for success, laying a strong foundation for the rest of college and beyond. Research shows that if you finish your first year and sign up for the second, you're far more likely to get that degree.

Elissa put together three episodes on everything you need to know to maximize your experience. Click the buttons below to listen.

Episode 1 You've been accepted into college. Now you've got to find your way around campus, pick out classes, make new friends and figure out a plan to graduate — on time. Here's how to make it easier.

The Essentials

Episode 2 Should you hand-write your notes or use a laptop? What about flashcards? Does highlighting even do anything? Here's how to improve your study habits and remember what you've learned — and keep college stress under control.

How To Be Happy

Episode 3 Before you earn your diploma, you need to focus on a different piece of paper: a resume. Here's how to think about what you want to do, and then go out and get a job — maybe even a career.

After College: The Job

These stories comes from Life Kit, NPR's family of podcasts to help make life better — covering everything from exercise to raising kids to making friends. For more, sign up for the newsletter and follow @NPRLifeKit on Twitter.

Now, let’s get into some news from this week…

Is school surveillance the key to preventing school shootings? More and more schools are investing in technologies that scan social media posts, school assignments and even student emails for potential threats. This week, Anya Kamenetz reported how privacy experts say the trade-offs aren't worth it. Read more here.

The California State Assembly passed a law that could make it possible for the state's college athletes to be paid for the use of their images to market products. The NCAA Board of Governors responded by sending a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, urging him to veto the bill. If the “Fair PAy To Play Act becomes law, the letter says, “it gives those schools an unfair recruiting advantage” and “would result in [schools] eventually being unable to compete in NCAA competitions.” Read more from CBS Sports here.

More than one in five college students are raising children. And a new GAO report says many of those students aren't getting the federal aid they need.Student parents are eligible to use federal financial aid dollars to cover child care costs: it's called a dependant care allowance. But when researchers looked at schools that have active programs geared to student parents, the GAO found that the information was presented clearly. Read more here.

Should black athletes go to black colleges? Jemele Hill, a writer at the Atlantic, argues yes. She says doing so could benefit the colleges and the communities around them. She spoke to NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly this week about her piece for the Atlantic titled, “It’s Time for Black Athletes to Leave White Colleges.” Listen to their conversation here.

Actress Felicity Huffman was sentenced to 14 days in prison on Friday for paying thousands of dollars to have one of her daughter's SAT scores inflated. She is the first parent to be sentenced in the massive college cheating scandal, called code name Varsity Blues by the FBI, that has rocked the U.S. higher education system. Read more here.

And before you go, here’s something to make you smile…

A freshman at MLK College Preparatory High School in Memphis was getting bullied for wearing the same clothes everyday. The student, Michael Todd, told a local news station, “I really don’t have clothes at home. My mom can’t buy clothes for me because I’m growing too fast.” So two of his classmates — Kristopher Graham and Antwan Garrett — stepped in and surprised Michael with shirts, shorts and shoes. Read the story here.

See you next week.