Lehman’s Mexican Studies gets $1M

CUNY’s Mexican Studies Institute, housed at Lehman College, celebrates its 10th year with a pretty hefty investment from the city council: a cool million dollars.

The allocation was included as part of the council’s recent fiscal year budget that will allow the institute to not only plan for the months ahead, but also for the next five years.

José Higuera López, the institute’s executive director, called the funding a “milestone,” noting it was four times the amount Lehman received jut three years ago from the city council.

“This award reflects the commitment the city has to equity and promoting growth,” López said, in a release. “It also sends a strong message that the Mexican Studies Institute is fully supported.”

The institute is one of just two research centers in the northeast dedicated to Mexican and Mexican American studies. As part of its mission, the institute strives to boost enrollment of Mexican and Mexican American students within CUNY, and works with international and local organizations to empower the city’s Mexican immigrants and those interested in the Mexican diaspora.

The institute has served more than 48,000 people this year, compared to just 16,000 in all of 2019.

Student loan pause continues on

Good news for former college students dreading the day they have to start paying back loans. The Biden administration says it will continue its “pause” on paying students loans at least through the end of next January.

“The payment pause has been a lifeline that allowed millions of Americans to focus on their families, health and finances instead of student loans during the national emergency,” said Miguel Cardona, the U.S. Secretary of Education, in a release.