🎓 Step One: Graduate. Step Two:

Image: Giphy

According to a recent report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the average starting salary for the college Class of 2020 was $55,260.

• That's 2.5% higher than the Class of 2019 ($53,889 ) and 8.5% higher than the Class of ’18 ($50,944).

The top 10 majors and their average starting salaries. 👇

🤔 Notice anything strange about the list ?... Well, for one thing, they’re all STEM jobs.

• “Technical majors typically are the highest paid as they are usually the highest in-demand,” explains Andrea J. Koncz, NACE research manager, told CNBC.
• “Also, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the greater need for technology in the new ‘virtual world’ that we live and work, the computer-related majors account for 4 of the top 10 paying bachelor’s degrees from the Class of 2020.”

✋ Yes, but… The cost of college keeps climbing. Seventy percent of college students say affordability impacted their fall 2021 plans.

• Plus, federal student loan debt sits at $1.6 trillion. Many students are debating whether college is worth it – especially when it may no longer be necessary to get a well-paying job.

📝 The bottom line: While average starting salaries for college grads is going up, COVID, costs, and less international student applications are driving a downward college enrollment trend.

• College enrollment was down around 5% this spring compared with the spring of 2020, according to the National Student Clearinghouse. Put another way, that's ~730,000 fewer students.

🎁 DONUT Headline: GM announced yesterday that it will idle nearly all its assembly plants in North America starting Monday due to a COVID-induced semiconductor shortage, adding or extending downtimes at eight plants in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Quick Reminder: Starting yesterday and concluding today, we’ll be examining a pair of laws in Texas that have emerged as flashpoints for the U.S. political landscape as a whole – and they’re right in our own backyard (DONUT HQ is in Austin, TX).

• Yesterday, we covered a Texas law banning abortion after roughly six weeks of pregnancy that came into effect September 1.

In part two, we’re taking a look at...

🗳️ Texas’ New Voting Laws

Image: Tamir Kalifa/Getty

• Democrats eventually returned to Texas last month after three of their members broke ranks, allowing the state House of Representatives to advance the legislation.

📝 What’s in the bill?... The final version of SB1 includes:

• New regulations for voting hours leading up to and on election day
• A ban on the distribution of unsolicited mail-in ballot applications
• New ID requirements for voting by mail
• Enhanced protections for partisan poll watchers
• A new process by which voters can correct technical errors in their mail-in ballots
• New monthly reviews of the state’s voter rolls to identify noncitizens
• A ban on drive-thru voting
• New rules guiding voter assistance

🗣️ The arguments:

• Proponents of the legislation say the changes will help prevent voter fraud and restore public faith in election security.
• Opponents argue the bills would suppress votes, especially those of minorities, and are a response to false claims of fraud in the 2020 election.

👁️ Looking ahead… Senate Bill 1 currently sits on the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who published a statement saying he looks forward to signing it. Abbott did not indicate when that might be.

🦵⚡ That Healing Feeling

Image: National University of Ireland, Galway

The study investigated whether electric stimulation therapy, when combined with exercise, would show promise in treating people with tendon diseases or sports-related injuries.

• Researchers used an implantable device embedded with a fabric-like mesh that produces electricity when stretched or put under mechanical pressure. Fun fact: the mesh is made using nano-fibers one-thousandth of the thickness of a human hair.
• The electrical stimulus generated by the device acts as a power switch that turns on certain regenerative processes in the damaged tendon.

The takeaway: "These devices are cost-effective, relatively easy to implant and may pave the way for a whole new class of regenerative electrical therapies," said Dr Manus Biggs, lead researcher.

Keep reading.

Images: Instagram

Anastasia Pagonis is a natural in the water. The seventeen-year-old broke the world record for the 400m freestyle twice in the paralympic swimming trials, and won Team USA’s first gold medal in Tokyo last week.

• But it wasn’t always this way. Anastasia struggled with depression and PTSD after going completely blind at 14 – and it was during that time when she first met Radar, her new guide dog and best friend.

"He's changed my life," Anastasia shared. "I didn't have any freedom or independence before him, and now that I have him I feel like a totally different person."

• When she's not training or competing, Anastasia is using her social media platforms to help change the way others view blind people.

Keep reading.

Which of the following is not a breed of cat?

A) Tabby
B) Persian
C) Siamese
D) Bengal

(keep scrolling for the answer)

Access exclusive rewards and even an all-expenses-paid round trip to Austin, TX, just for sharing this newsletter.

Simply: 

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3. Watch the rewards roll in.

No link found!

A) Tabby

A tabby cat is a domesticated cat of any breed with a coat that features distinctive stripes, dots, or swirling patterns. (The different types of patterns.)