Colleges have been delaying opening the physical campus for good reasons: Covid-19 is spreading. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that The University of North Carolina-State, shut down housing just after a few weeks, and the list of colleges postponing plans for reopening grows. Students and parents can only keep watch for updates with bated breath. In this era of uncertainty, they must become comfortable with the unknown.
Parents are asking if they will receive some refunds on the room and board moneys when students are sent back home. Some colleges are pro-rating the portion toward the following semester. College administrators are monitoring whether students are gathering in large parties, checking Twitter and Instagram to see where students plan to meet. Gathering in groups is now a disciplinary infraction, just like drug and alcohol use. One of my students said she’d report such parties because she pays a lot to attend college and doesn’t want to squander her money. Atta girl!
There is uncertainty for the upcoming class that will graduate in 2021 because we don’t know if the virus will be under control via a vaccine, or if we will still need to maintain social distancing, masks and other personal protective gear. We just don’t know. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that up to 40% of students admitted to Harvard chose to defer a year. If ever there was a year to take a gap or work or engage in other activities, this is it.
The first-year experience for students is not the traditional one, and this is attracting the sympathy of upper-class students “They might as well not come.” “They can’t socialize and get penalized if they do.” Yet students seem to work around this and make friends with their roommates on zoom and text. This generation knows how to foment those relationships online better than any previous one.
The result of this uncertainly is that in-state universities may become flooded with students. Small private colleges may have a tough time surviving this pandemic and some will go out of business. Parents may start to check their ratings on Moody. What we know for sure is that the major public institutions that are federally and state funded have staying power and will not close overnight. Stay tuned as the 2020-21 school year unfolds.
