By Darren Johnson
Publisher, Campus News
While the COVID-19 outbreak certainly has been jarring, the reality is, from the perspective of the college world, we only really lost a half of a semester.
Yes, that was rough, but, over the course of the typical four-year college career, the equivalent of a month and a half won’t do much academic damage for students. And, it’s not like practically every college didn’t have a Plan B. Unlike K-12 schools, colleges already had an online-learning infrastructure in place, to reliably move courses to. Some of these classes went awkwardly, but most went well enough.
It wasn’t ideal. Demonstrating a serious wealth gap, many students did not have access to computers or reliable Internet. SUNY and CUNY provided thousands of netbooks to them. Students who played sports and participated in clubs lost “the college experience.” Students who normally work to help support their educations found themselves unemployed and in financial trouble. Students from dysfunctional homes found themselves back there, heavily distracted. And seniors will forever regret not having proper closure on their undergraduate careers.
But it could have been worse, and there are many positive signs for the coming academic year that campuses may reopen, at least partially. It’s easy to get deflated by the dire daily forecasts from our political leaders – and the death count certainly is tragic and nothing to downplay – but there are large economic factors at play that will encourage colleges to try to seek some sense of normalcy.
For this issue of Campus News, I read many studies on how the fall could go, and surveys of students and their feelings about how the spring went and how they are planning for fall. As well, I spoke to several experts on various aspects of college life. A firm picture of how the fall will shape up is emerging.
The Economics and Politics of It All
The public colleges in New York State – the state most affected by COVID-19 and, understandably, the most cautious – are run by SUNY at the state level and CUNY at the city level, which, in times of crisis, can be closed by the governor; and, arguably, at the city level, the mayor. In March, it was briefly debated if SUNY community colleges could decide for themselves if they should open as, technically, these colleges are also managed by their respective counties, but that idea was quickly tossed. Overall, as the state is in crisis, Gov. Andrew Cuomo will make the ultimate call if the systems can run.
The governor of late has been urging a regional approach to reopening the state, so it may not be out of the realm of possibility that a community college in, say, Central Upstate New York, may open fully for the fall while one on Long Island can’t. In the past, for crises, SUNY never closed without the governor’s consent, for example for regional blizzards, but this applied to the four-year colleges, not the community colleges. Thus, it may be possible that certain community colleges and certain regional private and two-year colleges open as expected for the fall, while SUNY four-year colleges don’t open for traditional instruction. As for CUNY, that system operates in a more unified way; either the whole system will be open traditionally, or it won’t.
With students perhaps not being able to get “the college experience” at their preferred college, they may look for alternatives.
“I do believe we’ll see an increase in interest for community colleges, which provide all the benefits of a great education while also allowing students to stay closer to home,” said Lisa Malat, President of Barnes and Noble College, which runs bookstores at hundreds of colleges. “Price will also be an important factor here, as the economic impacts of COVID-19 may hinder students’ ability to pay for tuition and some of the other fees associated with a residential campus experience.”
These economics, and competition from local community colleges and colleges in states that are “open” may push cash-strapped states worst-hit by COVID-19 to open their four-year campuses, at least in a modified way.
“It’s safe to anticipate that classes at many of the expensive four-year colleges will end up going online,” according to Marnix Broer, Co-Founder & CEO of StuDocu, a leading platform that provides college students with free study tools and online resources. “Some schools are planning for a hybrid semester, with select learning components taking place on campus and other activities taking place online.”
Students Take a Wait-and-See Approach
Because of all of the uncertainty, students are keeping their options open. The online tutoring site OneClass polled 1000 students at dozens of universities and found that 75.5% were unhappy with the level of online instruction they had received this past COVID-19 semester. Thirty-five percent of students said that they would withdraw if their college declares it will again be online-only for this fall.
(Colleges know this, and practically all of them are declaring they will run traditionally this coming fall. At least for now. They also are lobbying for a government waiver to protect them from lawsuits, should another outbreak happen.)
What will those 35% of students do instead? They report: Attend a community college, do an internship, work, transfer to a school with in-state tuition or just take a gap year.
“There’s no reason to pay out-of-state tuition if I’m at home,” said a University of Georgia student in the OneClass study.
“A large part of why I go to college is about the college experience. I do not see why I would pay $15k to go to UMass Amherst when I can just take a semester off and take classes at my local community college online for much cheaper,” added a UMass Amherst student.
“Decision making will not be uniform across the U.S. and until a vaccine is developed and distributed, campus life will certainly be different at many schools, especially those located in or near major urban areas,” Broer said.
“As our first online semester comes to an end, the most evident fact emerging is that our students want to be back on campus and want to participate in face-to-face classes and activities,” said Dr. Shelly Chandler, provost of Beacon College in Leesburg, Fla.
Like other private colleges, Beacon has been able to pivot quickly. They are preparing their Learning Management Systems to move traditional classes back to online, if needed, and starting classes three weeks later than normally. Some colleges are moving their classes to modules and staggering classes to decrease live interaction.
Opportunities Exist
While about a fifth of employers say, during this economic crisis, they are cutting internships this summer, there is some good news – nearly 50 percent of employers are moving their internships to the online sphere and lessening the amount of total hours required, so students now can accomplish internships from home, and have the ability to really bolster their resumes, according to an April poll by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Some students can get prestigious internships in big cities while saving money by living in their small towns; perhaps such an opportunity wouldn’t have been possible normally for a poorer student and/or one from a more rural area.
“With the uncertainty that continues to surround the economy and the job market during this pandemic, employers are cutting budgets, which may result in internship programs being scaled back or temporarily suspended,” said Shawn VanDerziel, NACE’s executive director. “Fortunately, the more common response we are seeing is that many employers are moving their summer internship program to the virtual space or reducing the length of internships by delaying their start date.”
What Will Campuses Look Like?
If they are indeed open, colleges may not resemble what we are used to. For example, athletics, which are mostly governed by the NCAA, may not happen right away, if at all this fall.
Jackie Gardina, Dean and Chief Academic Officer at Santa Barbara and Ventura Colleges of Law, envisions: “While we hope that we can return to in-person campus courses, we are preparing to either teach with physical distancing measures in place, such as staggered class times or reduced number of students in the classroom, or to teach the semester fully online. … Like with our spring transition, we need to be mindful of equity and inclusion issues. Students’ ability and comfort attending in-person classes may vary depending on their and their families’ health.”
Expect classes to be moved to bigger rooms, where students can spread out and thus social distance. Some courses may use hybrid models, with many classes operating both online and in-person simultaneously. Some in-person classes may allow students to video conference in, as well.
Of course, a lot of these measure may be moot, if students go back to dorms with a communal area and shared bathroom.
One law firm is suggesting colleges explore using hotels to house students. Many hotels are vacant now, anyway.
“Unfortunately, shared bathrooms, bedrooms, and common areas create a near-perfect environment for social mixing and virus spread,” said Nancy Mitchell, a partner in O’Melveny & Myers’ New York office and a leader in the firm’s Global Restructuring Practice. “With private bathrooms and limited common areas, hotels offer an alternative that reduces the social mixing that is unavoidable in a traditional dorm setting.”
Broer added: “Most schools with residence halls believe that they would need to provide all students with single rooms, significantly reducing their normal residence hall population and eliminating the traditional college experience of sharing rooms with roommates. Shared bathrooms also provide a challenge that colleges will need to solve. …
“In addition, although colleges might be open this fall, not all activities may resume. There are serious unanswered questions about theatre departments, orchestras and bands, and athletic programs. Some schools are cutting programs like these in order to survive this period of financial uncertainty.”
Barnes & Noble College’s Malat said: “I think there is a large possibility that students will be hesitant to return to residential campuses, especially in more urban areas and other places that have been hit hard by COVID-19. They may consider taking a semester off, taking online classes or switching schools completely.”
Her group had been increasingly digitizing their efforts anyway these past years, so they are ready either way to serve student bodies.
How will their 700+ college stores look like? “Our campus stores will be re-opened with employee and customer safety as a top priority. From contactless payments to changes in the flow of store traffic, we will be implementing a number of changes to help ensure customers feel safe shopping with us. Even with these changes in place, we are confident our stores will provide the same great retail experience our customers have come to expect. … We all look forward to seeing students return to campus, but any decisions must be made with their safety and well-being top-of-mind.”
Hampshire (Mass.) College President Edward Wingenbach plans to welcome students in the fall for traditional classroom instruction. “We’re projecting enrollment of 550-600 students on our 800+ acre campus, making social distancing viable. Our class sizes are small, allowing students and professors to spread out in classrooms,” he wrote in a letter to the campus community. “Our students have single rooms, and we have surplus housing for quarantine or isolation if necessary. This spring we have offered students on-campus COVID-19 testing (PCR test) in an outside triage tent on campus and now offer antibody testing as well. By the summer, we are planning to have same-day, rapid testing for COVID-19 infection and antibodies. And our staff is experienced in contact tracing and notification of close contacts.”
Renegotiating Is Possible
Despite all of the changes, the fact remains, according to the OneClass study, most students do plan on sticking with their original school, even if it is online-only for the fall. These students cite the brand of the university having some value, and that they don’t want to lose existing scholarships.
“But I’m not paying full price for YouTube university,” said a Cal Poly student in the survey.
Now may be a good time to renegotiate your financial aid at your college.
“In normal times it’s possible to negotiate the price at a private four-year college. For example, if you were accepted by two similar schools — schools that may often compete against each other for students — and the out-of-pocket cost at one school is more than the other, you can ask the more costly school to reconsider its price and financial aid award,” Broer said. “Now, you might also be able to take advantage of the schools that are resorting to tuition discounts and premium dorm assignments to entice new students to attend. However, now is also a time when many schools can least afford to give you financial aid.”
He added: “If one or both of your parents’ livelihoods have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 crisis then you can potentially decrease the price burden of a private four-year college by appealing for more financial aid. Even before COVID-19, families experienced unexpected job losses and illnesses, so there already is an appeal process. That process is usually called Professional Judgment. This year, more students and their families will likely file for Professional Judgment.”
There is nothing wrong with reassessing your situation and weighing all options, but most experts agree, whether you plan to go away to college or stay locally, you still will want to enroll in credit-bearing classes of some sort this fall, to stay on track toward getting a degree. The future is uncertain, but it’s even more uncertain for those without a college education.
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