LaGuardia Community College is one of the nation’s top 2 year colleges when it comes to upward mobility. Nearly half the students are part time, often supporting their families while getting their degree. But as the pandemic caused mass closures across New York City, many students lost their jobs and were left stuck between a rock and a hard place. Meanwhile the school has been facing budget cuts and low enrollment. Luckily they’ve received some federal aid, but what happens next year when the stimulus runs out? 

In today's episode Epicenter's Danielle Hyams talks with two students to hear their stories on balancing their education with jobs, families, and on top of all of that, the pandemic. We also hear from the President of LCC on what's in store for the future.

LaGuardia Community College: https://www.laguardia.edu/

The LaGuardia Challenge: https://www.laguardia.edu/challenge/

Epicenter-NYC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/epicenter_nyc/

Epicenter-NYC membership: https://epicenter-nyc.com/the-case-for-epicenter-membership-one-auntie-to-another/

Our intro music: http://karavikamusic.com/

This episode was brought to you by McKinsey & Company. The Shortlist is McKinsey's weekly curated sampling of need to know stories about work, the economy, and culture: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/the-shortlist