When we began 2020, we were filled with hope for the New Year and relaxed from time off during the holidays. New Year's resolutions were made and celebrations across the world ushered in the dawning of a new decade. It was a time of normalcy and a time of hope as we marked the special milestone that was 2020. Little did we know what lay ahead. University students celebrated the early days in January by heading back to their campuses. There were new classes to attend, roommates and friends to reconnect with and exciting campus activities and events to look forward to. Then, suddenly, in March the college world was turned upside down as the coronavirus crisis swept across the world. Universities decided to shut down and ordered everyone attending to head home. University life as it had been known for over 100 years was over, and classes are now reduced to a meeting on Zoom.
The Dynamics of the New Learning Environment
When prospective students decide to attend a university, they are making a huge financial commitment. Education costs have risen substantially year after year and those attending now often have to finance the high expense of higher education with federal and private student loans. Even with the ever-increasing costs, though, students and parents still were willing to pay for the university experience and all it offers. Now, with everyone at home attending classes remotely by looking at a laptop screen, there has been a cataclysmic change. The entire value proposition of attending a four-year school, all the intangible benefits of being inside the college cocoon and having the university experience, has been wiped away. Higher education at this moment is not a richly cherished experience; it is an online learning commodity.
Declining Enrollments
Even before the coronavirus crisis, four-year schools were seeing declining enrollments due to population shifts and economic pressures on students from high tuition and room and board costs. With the pandemic, there could be a far greater decrease in university attendance as some people decide not to return to college or take a year off between high school and university. People are also worried about taking out and paying off their tuition fees in this time of economic uncertainty. A number of students may choose to not attend college at all until on-campus education resumes. Paying $2,500 for an in-person course that is now completely online hardly seems right when a similar online course can be purchased for $400. Attendance by foreign students, who typically pay full tuition, is also expected to drop dramatically as virus fears and travel restrictions make attending college overseas an unlikely option at this time.
Choices and Admissions Likely to Change
As we enter the college admissions cycle for the next academic year, we are already seeing anecdotal evidence of new trends in school selection. Those who had dreamed of attending a prestigious institution far away from home are now looking at more affordable universities closer to where they currently live. Saving money on the cost of a four-year education is important, as most want to reduce overall borrowing and future debt. There is also a comfort in being close to home during this crisis. The pandemic is also upending this year's admissions process. It's been impossible to schedule campus visits so making informed choices about which institution to attend is really difficult. It's also hard to make a choice when administrators cannot even say for sure when normality will resume. With all the unknowns, many prospective students are likely to opt-out of decision-making and not commit to attending college in the fall.