The pandemic's effects, along with a decline in the number of young adults, have depressed college enrollment, with community colleges bearing much of the brunt.

Why it matters: A college degree is becoming more important as the demand for higher skills sharpens. The drop in college enrollment — which is especially steep for Black and Latino students — is bad news for both the higher education industry and broader social mobility.

As more companies lean towards a hybrid setup, many are cutting back their headquarters and putting smaller offices close to where workers are.

Why it matters: White-collar employees want flexibility, but they don't necessarily want to keep working from their bedrooms. Smaller satellite offices could give employees places to work without the pre-pandemic commute.

Tech's biggest companies are ramping up competition for the real estate between your hand and your elbow.

The big picture: The next big hardware platform after the smartphone will likely involve devices for your eyes, your ears and your wrists.

The coronavirus pandemic forced hospitals and patients to delay care — everything from heart procedures and knee replacement surgeries to lab tests and X-rays — but people have been flocking back to their doctors as coronavirus cases wane.

Why it matters: A return to normal levels of care means health care spending is back on the rise, which will continue to strain governmental budgets and people's paychecks.

Hong Kong's Apple Daily will close within days because the pro-democracy newspaper's assets have been frozen under China's national security law, an adviser to the company's imprisoned founder Jimmy Lai told media Sunday night.

Why it matters: It's the latest blow to the democratic movement in the Asian financial hub, as Beijing continues to crack down on dissent under the law, which landed Lai and other pro-democracy leaders in jail and led to the arrest last week of five senior Apple Daily executives.

American Airlines announced Sunday that it's cutting some 950 flights from its schedule, including 296 this weekend, to reduce potential pressure on its operations, the Wall Street Journal first reported.

Driving the news: The U.S. vaccine rollout has led to a massive increase in travel bookings. The airline noted in an emailed statement that it's facing an "incredibly quick ramp up of customer demand."

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby tells "Axios on HBO" that America could be headed toward a pilot shortage, because "the military produces far fewer pilots today than they did ... in the Cold War era."

Why it matters: The U.S. travel industry is roaring back, with leisure air travel exceeding pre-pandemic levels, and now must protect itself from future disruptions.

During a wide-ranging interview for "Axios on HBO," I asked Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge why Black homeownership rates have gone down, while rates for Asians and Hispanics have gone up.

The big picture: "Part of our problem is that we have never totally enforced the Fair Housing Act," Fudge told me during a visit to her native Cleveland.

Many tech startups are choosing to keep employees working from home and are pivoting to planning several elaborate company retreats per year to allow employees to meet and bond, the Wall Street Journal reported this week.

Why it matters: For many companies, corporate retreats are becoming a necessity as they try to figure out how to maintain company culture with remote employees.

1. Vaccines: Biden says 300M COVID-19 shots administered in U.S. — The states that have vaccinated at least 70% of adults.
2. Economy: Economic fears during the COVID comeback have been largely transitory.
3. Politics: Republicans push to sanction Chinese officials over Wuhan lab probe.
4. World: Olympic public viewing sites in Tokyo canceled, governor says — Uganda Olympic team member tests positive for COVID in Tokyo — In photos: Brazilians rally against Bolsonaro as COVID deaths top 500,000 —India's "black fungus" infections exacerbated by crowded hospitals, lack of oxygen.
5. Poll: Americans are restarting pre-coronavirus daily activities.
6. Variant tracker: Where different strains are spreading.

The 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced plans Saturday to launch a single currency in 2027, called the "eco," per Reuters.

The big picture: The pandemic forced the bloc to "suspend the implementation of the convergence pact in 2020-2021," ECOWAS president Jean-Claude Kassi Brou said after a summit of the leaders in Ghana. It's hoped having a common currency will "boost cross-border trade and economic development," DW notes.