There is a lot of inconsistency and confusion surrounding the return of students to their respective colleges and universities across the United States.  Some educational institutions will be performing remote classes from home, while others are attempting to return to in person classes with more strict safety policies for students as well as instructors.  With either method of returning to school, there are new obstacles that nobody has dealt with before.  We will most likely be seeing some massive changes occurring over the next few months as students, instructors, and families have to adjust to new lifestyles and learning processes.  

Health and Safety Concerns

Within days of bringing students back to campus, a rapid increase of COVID-19 cases has already occurred at numerous colleges across the United States.  At the University of Alabama, over 20,000 students have moved into their student housing, both on campus and off campus.  Students immediately began to disregard the safety guidelines, going to fraternity parties and local bars, resulting in nearly 600 new cases of COVID-19 in only five days.  This spike in student cases caused the local bars to quickly be shut down by the mayor of Tuscaloosa, who informed the community that students’ lack of respect for health guidelines could quickly overload the city’s wellness programs.

This is not only an issue in Alabama.  Universities across the country who have recently allowed students to come back to campus are experiencing similar situations.  Obviously a major component of a typical college lifestyle is the social aspect, which has unfortunately been compromised for the foreseeable future this school year.  It would be unrealistic to assume that young adults would completely refrain from social activities, especially those who have just left home for the first time.  

Sadly for students, the fun of partying and attending social events at this time does not in any circumstance outweigh the risks of doing so.  For the safety of students and anyone around the college, it is crucial for individuals to follow all safety guidelines so that our communities can get back to normal as soon as possible.

Not only are students concerned with the reopening of universities, so are their families.  A concerned father of two Drexel University students states that:

The situation is so unusual and so dynamic that university emergency plans which were well thought-out are still not enough.  The “human factor” of unpredictable student behavior, coupled with lack of consistent rules and loose enforcement on campus and throughout society, will inevitably result in more problems and sickness.  I understand why students and others are pushing to get back to campus, but there will be health, legal, and other consequences that last much longer than the virus itself.

If students could be trusted to follow the health and safety policies that colleges are attempting to enforce, the repercussions following the reopening of schools would definitely be less severe.  But that does not seem to be the case after only a few days of universities resuming classes.  As a society we all need to be more cautious with our actions, out of respect for our own health and the health of everyone around us.  It is important to hold each other accountable for our actions that increase the spread of COVID-19 and to help each other make our communities safer.

Financial Concerns

There is reason to believe that the students may not be completely at fault for these outbreaks.  Although students are absolutely responsible for their actions resulting in higher rates of infection, many higher education institutions have not lowered the cost of education for their students despite the fact that most classes are already being conducted online.  Many colleges have frozen their tuition, meaning that it was not increased from the previous year, but the vast majority of students do not feel that an online education is as valuable as learning in person.  

While there are many benefits to online learning, such as a higher retention of information, students who are going to all of their classes from their bedroom are unable to use university facilities and no longer have access to many other services that are typically provided by universities.  Students who live in off campus housing must also continue to pay their rent, and a very small number of landlords/rental companies are allowing students to drop their leases.  

Because of this, many students are feeling pressure to return to campus so that they are not completely throwing their money away if they are unable to get out of their leases or find somebody else to fill their apartments.  This is not only hurting students and their families financially, but also putting enormous amounts of others at risk by moving into areas that are mostly populated by families and non-college students.  

Mira Sadeghi, a senior at Temple University in Philadelphia, shared her thoughts about how her school has handled the return to campus for students, saying:

I have to disagree with Temple’s decision to reopen campus.  This is not a college town, it’s a community with residents that are at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 and less likely to be insured.  Bringing thousands of kids on and around campus is dangerous regardless of the precautions taken by the university and I have no doubt that their decision to reopen was financially based.

Colleges that rely on sports such as football and basketball to bring in money are seeing their seasons cancelled, which means that they will not be able to sell tickets or broadcast their games.  It seems that this could be one of the reasons that tuitions are not being lowered for students.  According to Fortune.com, the 5 largest college football conferences profit over $1 billion each year.  And that’s just from football, not to mention the massive amounts of income that are created from other sports.  These schools who heavily depend on athletics as a major source of their annual income are going to endure large financial shortcomings this year.  This could be another reason as to why colleges are choosing not to lower their tuition costs.

Yes, colleges need annual revenue to keep themselves financially stable for the sake of their employees and students.  However, colleges could absolutely lower the tuition for students this year and still have enough money for their expenses while not using university facilities.  Let’s take a quick look at a very rough analysis of Penn State’s annual finances.

Note that these numbers were taken from simple internet searches and produced a rough estimate, not taking into account scholarships, other expenses, etc.  Even if this half of a billion dollars leftover per year is an extreme overestimate, there is undoubtedly room for the university to lower tuition costs to keep their students and employees safe and healthy.  

It is safe to assume that colleges all across the country are bringing in much more money than they require just based off of tuition alone.  Higher education institutes should be able to give their students a break for one year on their tuition, especially during a time of worldwide crisis.

Conclusion 

Here is a quick list of the key takeaways from this post:

• College students returning to campus have already caused an increase in COVID-19 cases

• There is widespread concern over the safety of students and anyone close to them

• Tuition costs for many students have not been lowered

• Should students have to pay the same amount for an online education?

Hopefully this blog post was helpful to you in one way or another.  If you would like to learn more about what you can do to help one another during this pandemic, visit the Peace Innovation Institute’s website for some fantastic insights!