Cornell Says It's Safer To Bring Students Back To Campus, Will Resume Classes September 2
Cornell University said that it planned to resume classes on campus this September after university researchers projected it was safer to resume classes with a mix of in-person and online learning, a claim that is controversial among outside epidemiologists.
Why Cornell Will Reopen in the Fall
Students will return to Ithaca in any case. On campus, we can track and isolate Covid cases.
Can College Campuses Prevent The Spread Of Covid-19 When They Reopen This Fall?
A working paper co-authored by professors at Swarthmore College and the University of Pennsylvania considers the potential spread of coronavirus in a large university environment and how mitigation efforts can help.
Sunburn — The morning read of what's hot in Florida politics — 7.1.20
'There is no safe way to reopen colleges this fall[51]' via Shweta Bansal, Colin Carlson and John Kraemer of The Washington Post — Universities across the country are announcing their intention to resume in-person classes despite the ongoing threat of a pandemic including some recent high-profile decisions. Colleges are proposing solutions like residential pods in dorms to balance physical distancing with the need for social contact or digital apps that trade-off privacy for contact tracing. These ideas could provide more flexibility in the future. Every way we approach the question of whether universities can resume on-campus classes, basic epidemiology shows there is no way to 'safely' reopen by the fall semester. If students are returned to campus for face-to-face instruction, the risk of significant on-campus COVID-19 transmission will be unmanageably and unavoidably high.
SCOTT GALLOWAY: US university presidents and chancellors, enough already. Reopening this fall is recklessly putting faculty members' lives in danger.
US university presidents and chancellors, enough already. It's time to end the consensual hallucination between university leadership, parents, and students that in-person classes will resume in the fall. The bold statements from presidents and provosts are symptomatic of the viruses that also plague American leadership and business: exceptionalism that has morphed into arrogance and an idolatry of money that supplants regard for the commonwealth.
We could be feeling this for the next decade: Virus hits college towns
Communities that evolved around campuses face potentially existential losses is population, jobs and revenue.
More Infections From an Online Semester?
Researchers at Cornell University have concluded an online semester at the university will result in more COVID-19 infections than an in-person one. The university is reopening, with plans to monitor students and moderate misbehavior.
There is no safe way to reopen colleges this fall
Reopening colleges during a pandemic is too dangerous
International Students' Worries During the Pandemic
International students report higher levels of satisfaction with remote learning than their domestic peers, but they have concerns about issues of health, safety and immigration.
Mounting Faculty Concerns About the Fall Semester
Professors across institutions are increasingly waving red flags about the private and public health implications of default face-to-face instruction come fall, along with a lack of shared decision making in staffing and teaching decisions.
'A scary reality': Students react to colleges' reopening plans with mix of optimism, fear
…Colleges detail what it could look like for students when they reopen for fall 2020. Schools will try to discourage such gatherings when students arrive by providing information and personal protective equipment. For instance, all University of Florida students will receive a care kit that includes hand sanitizer and wipes, face masks and education material that explains the importance of being proactive to prevent spreading the virus, according to D’Andra Mull, vice president for student affairs. “We try to help students understand that this is a shared responsibility,” Mull said. “We have to protect one another.”
How Data Analytics Will Help Campuses Reopen Safely
Data analytics solutions such as social density maps can help colleges and universities manage social distancing on campus.
A Tale of 2 Colleges
How safe is safe? Bill Burger explores Bowdoin and Middlebury’s dueling reopening plans.
How Liability Protections Can Help Universities Safely Reopen
…Institutions want to reopen if they can, recognizing the need to constantly reexamine plans as new data and information emerges. But they are making decisions with evolving information like the rest of the country. There is no failsafe set of measures to ensure zero transmission of the virus. As institutions consider steps they’ll take to reopen, the specter of enormously expensive litigation costs looms large.
Yale University to open campus without sophomores in fall and without freshmen in spring
Yale University will reopen in the fall without sophomores living on campus and then will be open in the spring without freshmen living on campus in an attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus, Yale's president and provost announced in a letter to the community Wednesday.
Reopening schools safely can't happen without racial equity
Universities around the US are announcing fall reopening plans that range from online learning to giving students a choice between online and face-to-face versions of the same class. A growing number of universities, however, are planning for face-to-face instruction and recklessly forcing faculty and staff back to campus, granting exceptions only based on the Americans with Disabilities Act…If being humane is not motivation enough, universities should consider the role of racial equity in their reopening plans.
CDC says colleges should not give covid-19 tests to everybody returning to campus this fall. Here’s why.
…Schools are trying to figure out who to test for the coronavirus and when. According to the CDC, some colleges and universities are planning to test everybody returning to campus, but the agency is now advising against it.
AIDS activists feel sense of déjà-vu as they watch the coronavirus policy battle unfold
One sign of the broken public health system is the failure to carry out widespread contact tracing, a key pillar in quelling the spread of the virus as the country reopens. The practice involves identifying and interviewing anyone who comes into close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19. It has been credited with reining in the virus in Germany and South Korea, but it has never been fully carried out in the United States.
But for contact tracing to work, public health officials say, a system of social services must be set up, including quarantine plans, policies to protect vulnerable communities and delivery services for essential goods. With COVID-19, as with AIDS, such services have been sorely lacking.
This isn’t the first global pandemic, and it won’t be the last. Here’s what we’ve learned from 4 others throughout history
The course of human history has been shaped by infectious diseases, and the current crisis certainly won’t be the last time. However, we can capitalise on the knowledge gained from past experiences, and reflect on how we’re better off this time around.
WHO says living with COVID-19 to be new normal as global cases top 10 million
The chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday that all countries living with COVID-19 will be the new normal in the coming months, as the pandemic had already infected more than 10 million people worldwide, including nearly 500,000 deaths. "The critical question that all countries will face in the coming months is how to live with this virus. That is the new normal," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a daily press briefing.
Colleges Plan to Reopen Campuses, but for Just Some Students at a Time
To provide some semblance of the campus experience during a pandemic, colleges say large chunks of the student body will have to stay away and study remotely for all or part of the year.
Universities Reverse Campus Reopening Plans Amidst Covid-19 Spike
As coronavirus infections spike across the country, a number of universities that had previously announced plans to reopen their campuses this fall have reversed their decisions. Concerns over the rapid growth of Covid-19 infections in hotbed states such as California and Texas have prompted university leaders to walk back earlier decisions to reconvene in-person classes. Instead they have announced they will resume online learning through the summer or fall semester.
'A Nightmare': Georgia Tech Faculty Push Back Against In-Person Reopening Plans
…At the Georgia Institute of Technology, which is scheduled to hold in-person classes, more than 800 of its 1,100 faculty members have published a letter outlining their concerns. The letter, reported by Georgia Public Broadcasting, criticizes the state university system for mandating statewide reopenings this fall that "do not follow science-based evidence, increase the health risks to faculty, students and staff, and interfere with nimble decision-making necessary to prepare and respond to Covid-19 infection risk."
Trump administration bars international college students if their school's classes are all online
International students who attend college in the United States on visas will be barred from staying in the country if their school's classes are entirely online during the fall semester, the Trump administration said Monday.
A tuition break, half-empty campuses and home-testing kits: More top colleges announce fall plans
…The fall plans from the three universities are the latest in a wave of announcements as higher education leaders scramble to determine when and how they can bring students back to campuses that have been empty, or nearly so, for months.
Colleges Face Rising Revolt by Professors
Most universities plan to bring students back to campus. But many of their teachers are concerned about joining them.
Colleges race to create 'a new sense of normalcy.' Will new rules, COVID-19 testing be enough?
“This is all terra incognita,” said Terry Hartle, senior vice president with the American Council on Education. “They don’t teach this in college presidents’ school. … Every school is taking steps they couldn’t have imagined a year ago.”
What Will College Be Like in the Fall?
In March, as the coronavirus outbreak began to spread rapidly across the U.S., colleges sent students home and transitioned to online instruction for the rest of the semester. Now, as the fall semester approaches, many are wondering whether students and faculty can safely return to campuses.
Navigating the Storms
In this tumultuous period, colleges must be open-minded to various forms of restructuring and learn from other nonprofits, John MacIntosh writes.
COVID-19 Roundup: More Universities Announce Online Plans
Rutgers, Harvard, Princeton and Georgetown announce mostly online fall terms while ICE says international students cannot study fully online and remain in U.S. Georgia system reverses course on masks.
Students of Color Are Not OK. Here’s How Colleges Can Support Them.
Faced with a pandemic and a racial reckoning, students’ mental health is suffering. To succeed, they’ll need support from people who understand them.
Georgia Backs Down. Masks Will Be Mandatory at Its Colleges This Fall.
In an abrupt about-face, the State of Georgia will now require face coverings to be worn at its 26 public colleges and universities. The decision, announced late Monday, will affect hundreds of thousands of students, faculty, and staff.
Can Colleges Reopen? 7 Questions From Congress As It Considers More Higher Ed Support
With the new semester quickly approaching, and coronavirus cases rising in most states, will colleges and college students have what they need to succeed this fall? That’s the question members of Congress sought to answer as they gathered virtually on Tuesday to hear from expert witnesses representing community colleges, public universities and online higher ed institutions.
Coronavirus research updates: University infections could soar even if students were tested weekly
To safely reopen residential campuses, universities might need to test their students for COVID-19 every two days. David Paltiel at the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Connecticut, and his colleagues modelled the effect of a variety of testing strategies on the number of infections that would arise among 5,000 students during an 80-day semester (A. D. Paltiel et al. Preprint at medRxiv http://doi.org/d3cc; 2020).
Reopening Campuses, Racial Disparities
As the Trump administration pushes for colleges and schools to reopen, Congress heard a call to do so without worsening the pandemic's racial impacts.
Trump Visa Rules Seen as Way to Pressure Colleges on Reopening
International students will be required to take at least one in-person class to keep their visas, at a time when many universities are prioritizing online instruction.
The Business of Reopening Colleges and Universities in a Pandemic
While there is a concern raised about safety in a pandemic for students and to a lesser extent for faculty and staff if the reopening is in-person or even hybrid, there is only anecdotal understanding outside of the Executive Suite of the financial pressures that may come to bear on the Administrations attempting to discern what to do in a pandemic. This note attempts to address that in a systematic fashion.
Flimflam: College in 2020
Higher education institutions are engaging in a very American tradition regarding reopening in the fall, with students and parents as the easy marks, Ryan Craig argues.
What Do College Students Think of Their Schools’ Reopening Plans?
…Although colleges have designed their reopening plans in coöperation with state public-health authorities and leading private medical institutions, their potential flaws are obvious.
The biggest questions parents and educators have about colleges reopening
…Business Insider spoke with three experts — a professor who researches inequity in higher-education, a parent of two college-aged kids who also runs risk management for a community college, and a liability attorney — to learn the biggest questions that parents and educators have (or should have), and to see if they have any answers.
How Universities Are Planning to Reopen Amid the Pandemic
As fall semester nears, more and more schools are announcing their plans, and no two are the same. Some institutions are planning for a fully on-campus semester, while others are opting to stay remote for the foreseeable future. Below is a sampling of the different strategies that colleges across the country are piecing together for the start of the 2020–21 academic year.
Colleges Prepare to Test Thousands of Students for Covid-19
As campuses reopen, the logistics of preventing an outbreak are posing thorny questions: Who to test? How often? And will students buy in? Their model showed that if testing was done frequently enough—they found once every three days was optimal—universities could manage with cheaper testing methods that miss as many as a third of infections, because an individual patient is unlikely to have multiple false negatives in a row. “Frequency of testing is the most powerful variable that the administrators of a university control. That’s what really matters here,” Paltiel says. That would also reduce the burden on contact tracing efforts, he notes, since infected contacts will be identified in subsequent rounds of testing.
The Hill's Coronavirus Report: HHS Secretary Azar says US plans to have tens of millions of vaccine doses this fall; Kremlin allegedly trying to hack vaccine research
HHS Secretary Azar says US government compressing timelines on safe, effective COVID-19 vaccines, plans to have tens of millions of vaccine doses this fall and hundreds of millions early 2021, says US not collaborating with China in any direct way on US vaccine or therapeutic manufacturing
Researchers grapple with anxiety, new policies as universities reopen
Four months ago, researchers scrambled to save their work as the coronavirus pandemic shuttered universities and closed labs. Now, with restrictions lifting — even as cases rise in some parts of the United States and elsewhere in the world — many researchers are cautiously returning to work, socially distanced and with masks in hand.
Many of the precautions they are taking in their labs resemble those put in place in businesses and restaurants: wearing face masks, maintaining a physical distance from others and staying home as much as possible. But lab work presents unique complications and calls for additional policies and culture shifts, scientists say.
Stay Apart or Stay Home
Colleges are implementing social contracts or making addenda to code of conduct policies requiring students to abide by social distancing guidelines this fall. Some institutions have said they will remove students from campus for noncompliance.
School reopenings abroad offer lessons to U.S.
While documented cases of younger students transmitting the virus to their classmates or to adults so far appear rare, there is enduring worry about the susceptibility of teens, college-age students and their teachers. And, especially in communities where the virus is still circulating widely, elaborate and expensive measures may be necessary to avoid shutting down entire schools each time a student tests positive.
Unreleased CDC Document on Campus Reopening
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn’t made public a document with information that could aid colleges and universities as they devise plans for reopening in the fall, The New York Times reported Friday.
The 69-page document, obtained by the Times and marked “For Internal Use Only,” was intended for federal public health response teams as they are deployed to hot spots around the country.
Colleges Face a No-Win Dilemma: To Cut or Not to Cut Tuition?
Amid all the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic for higher education, two things are becoming clear. Most students yearn to come back to campus in the fall, in spite of the risks. And if, instead, students wind up receiving online instruction come September, they don’t want to pay full tuition.
The Case for Tuition Refunds
This won’t be a regular semester, and colleges shouldn’t charge a regular price
Colleges Say Hybrid Courses Will Make the Fall a Success. But Will Students Get the Worst of Both Worlds?
Nolan’s skepticism is shared by a growing number of faculty members, as more colleges choose the HyFlex model for the fall. It also reflects a rift between administrators and professors, who are raising alarms over the health risks of teaching in person, and about the logistical, technical, and pedagogical complications of the model itself. Search HyFlex on Facebook and Twitter and you’ll come across comments like this one: “Whoever the hell thought of this is a bean counter, not an educator, and an idiot.”
Ten considerations for reopening US higher education
Universities can break the reopening process into three phases
Universities’ Plan to Test Students for Covid-19 to Increase Demand on Testing Capacity
Public-health experts, citing rising coronavirus cases across the U.S., worry about a strained supply chain
Coronavirus pandemic could get much, much worse, according to this health expert
' 'Had we done it right the first time, we'd be operating at near 100 percent now, schools would be preparing for a nearly normal school year, football teams would be preparing to practice — and tens of thousands of Americans would not have died.' ' John M. Barry, professor at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and author of 'The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History,' wrote in a New York Times op-ed[1] Wednesday that the U.S. needs to follow the example of the dozens of countries that have managed to tame the spread and reopen their economies safely. 'At this writing, Italy, once the poster child of coronavirus devastation and with a population twice that of Texas, has recently averaged about 200 new cases a day when Texas has had over 9,000,' Barry wrote. 'Germany, with a population four times that of Florida, has had fewer than 400 new cases a day. On Sunday, Florida reported over 15,300, the highest single-day total of any state.' The crucial difference is that those countries all took the virus seriously from the get-go, acted swiftly and decisively and continue to do so. Australia just issued $18,000 of fines because too many people attended a birthday party in a home, he wrote. U.S. health experts were clear that to replicate Europe's success, the U.S. would need to shut down for as long as needed to achieve a steep downward trend in cases. Equally, the government needed to get Americans on board with public health advice, such as frequent hand washing, social distancing and wearing face masks. See also: Coronavirus update: COVID-19 is far from contained and could rival 1918 flu pandemic that killed 50 million, experts warn[2] Thirdly, it needed a robust testing, tracing and isolating system to keep track of who was infected and who they had been in contact with. 'Nationally we came nowhere near any of those goals, although some states did and are now reopening carefully and safely. Other states fell far short but reopened anyway. We now see the results,' Barry wrote. Adding to the gloom, states are now reporting some of the shortages that dogged hospitals back in March, such as testing kits and personal protective equipment. Post-testing support — making sure those who test positive self-isolate and following up their contacts — has fallen short of the needed effort. 'Many states now have so many cases that contact tracing has become impossible anyway,' Barry wrote. To reopen the economy safely, and to reopen schools safely, requires getting the case count down to manageable levels, mimicking those in Europe, which is now ready to bring children back into its schools. That will require limits on gatherings and temporary shutdowns of places where people tend to congregate in large numbers. That means not just bars, but also churches, which are a well-documented source of spread. In some instances, a full shutdown may be required, said Barry, as half measures will do little to stop hospital systems from being overwhelmed.
‘Ethically troubling.’ University reopening plans put professors, students on edge
Come August, hundreds of universities across the United States are poised to reopen their campuses with a mix of online and in-person courses. Only a handful are aiming for an entirely online semester. But as the machinery of higher education cranks back into action, faculty, staff, and students are voicing concerns that, with COVID-19 cases surging in many parts of the country, employees are being forced to put their health—and the health of others—at unnecessary risk.
NYU professor Scott Galloway predicts hundreds of universities will shutter, possibly for good, if they reopen in the fall
He says that universities planning to reopen for in-person classes in the fall are swept up in a "tsunami of denial" about the dangers of the pandemic because they're so dependent on student tuition to stay up and running…Instead of putting the lives of students and staff at risk, Galloway says colleges need to do what other for-profit businesses have had to do during the pandemic: cut down on expenses and seek relief funds from state and federal governments.
Reopening America’s Schools and Colleges During COVID-19
To reduce economic and health disparities, we must reopen schools, colleges, and child care facilities, even as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
Opening Campuses Is Risky. The Alternative Is Worse.
Colleges and universities can successfully navigate coronavirus perils with prudence and lots of creativity.
First, Consider the Deal Breakers
Aden Hayes lists some threatening possible developments that should give people pause if they plan to open their campuses this fall semester.
After Cruise Ships and Nursing Homes, Will Universities Be the Next COVID-19 Tinderboxes?
…One might imagine that the rapid, uncontained spread of a serious and poorly understood disease which is already killing students would cause universities all across America to put their re-opening plans on hold. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
The Ethics of Reopening
The Reverend Dennis H. Holtschneider explores the numerous thorny issues that leaders and members of college communities will confront.
Colleges Hoped for an In-Person Fall. Now the Dream Is Crumbling.
Several prominent campuses on Monday announced reversals of prior fall reopening plans as Covid-19 case counts surge across the country. Coming after months of expressed optimism about the possibility of in-person operations, the announcements signal a retreat from those projections that may grow to a wave.
On some college campuses, a new fall rite: coronavirus testing
….Of all the educational unknowns in an extraordinary year of disease and disruption, one of the most vexing for colleges and universities is this: How much viral testing is enough?
Colleges Are Getting Ready to Blame Their Students
As campuses reopen without adequate testing, universities fault young people for a lack of personal responsibility.
COVID-19 hot spots like frat parties, bars could ruin fall 2020 college reopening plans
As hundreds of universities attempt to offer in-person classes this fall, their success or failure hinges on much more than just emptying out the lecture halls or reducing dorm-room density. A masked student might successfully navigate her chemistry class, but then contract coronavirus while eating lunch with friends. Another might wash his hands and wear a mask on campus, but drop his guard at an off-campus fraternity house. A third could obey all campus guidelines, but pop into a crowded bar on Thursday night. Game over.
College students will bring racial economic disparities of the pandemic back to campus. Are universities ready?
…Although physically opening universities may pose an element of risk for all who enter a campus, it is unlikely that the risks will be experienced equally. Instead, reflecting racial disparities in coronavirus patterns throughout the United States, students of color are likely to bear the brunt of the effect on university campuses. Recent federal and state decisions will only exacerbate racial educational and health inequities.
Universities’ ‘hybrid’ reopening plans now offer the worst of both worlds
Welcome back, students! We're delighted that you've decided to return to campus for the fall 2020 semester. You'll live in dormitories, work out at the gym, and see your friends. But if you think you're going to see your professors, think again. Your social life can be in person, but your classes are going online. That's the devil's bargain many universities have struck as they prepare to reopen next month. Harvard announced that 40% of its students will be invited to return to campus, but all of its instruction will be virtual. Other schools said they will conduct some face-to-face instruction, especially for laboratory and clinical classes, but that online would remain the "default teaching option," as Stanford declared.
University reopening plans under fire
Come August, hundreds of universities across the United States are poised to reopen their campuses with a mix of online and in-person courses. Only a handful are aiming for an entirely online semester. But as the machinery of higher education cranks back into action, faculty, staff, and students are voicing concerns that with COVID-19 cases surging in many parts of the country, employees are being forced to put their health—and the health of others—at unnecessary risk.
The pandemic has damaged the appeal of studying in the United States for some international students
…Such worries over health care, immigration and visa status are drivers behind an expected drop in enrollment among international students at U.S. institutions, and have struck a blow to the standing of the United States as a coveted destination for overseas study, according to initial data gathered by organizations in the global education sector.
Welcome to the C2i Dashboard! (The College Crisis Initiative (C2I) @ Davidson College)
Below you will find a map of ~3,000 colleges, community colleges, and universities in the United States showing their Fall 2020 plans for academic instruction. To sort by plan and/or other filters, see Spring 2020 transitions to online education, examine graphs of trends, or learn more about our data, use the menu bar (displayed as ☰) on the left. Maps of Spring 2020 and Fall 2020 show how decision-making depends on size, location, peer networks, urbanicity, athletics, and other variables. We will continue to update and add to this site over time with more graphs, menus, and maps.
How Countries Are Reopening Schools During the Pandemic
Educators worldwide are facing the agonizing decision of whether to resume in-person instruction while there’s still no cure for the new coronavirus. Countries including Denmark, India, and Kenya are taking different approaches.
Faculty unions call on Florida universities to go online-only this fall
Leaders say plans to reopen campuses were hastily completed and will put students and faculty in danger of infection.
More Than 6,600 Coronavirus Cases Have Been Linked to U.S. Colleges
A New York Times survey of every public four-year college in the country, as well as every private institution that competes in Division I sports or is a member of an elite group of research universities, revealed at least 6,600 cases tied to about 270 colleges over the course of the pandemic. And the new academic year has not even begun at most schools. NB: Not that it is desirable, but Penn is on the map.
Colleges are walking back reopening plans — but can they keep campus employees safe?
As California colleges rethink their back-to-school plans amid a statewide spike in coronavirus cases, it’s not just their students they need to worry about protecting. Many campus employees are decades older than the students they teach and support, putting them at higher risk of complications if they contract the virus.
When Is It Safe for Schools to Reopen in California?
A professor of epidemiology at U.C. Davis talks about what is necessary to safely reopen schools.
Communicating Risks to Foster Compliance
Colleges are employing multipronged strategies to inform students about the pandemic. Will their efforts get students to take safety precautions seriously?
Athletic Seasons Are Canceled. Student Activities Are Virtual. But at Some Colleges, Fees Won’t Change.
As more colleges renege on promises of an in-person fall and move to a virtual format, student fees — charges earmarked for athletics and other extracurricular programming — are coming under scrutiny.
Back-to-College Plans Devolve Into a Jumble of Fast-Changing Rules
With the fall term about to start amid pandemic, campus plans are in disarray at a host of American colleges
As Covid-19 Resurges, More Colleges Revise Their Fall Plans. Here Are The Latest Changes
A resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic is causing an increasing number of colleges to abandon or delay plans to open their campuses for the fall. In the past few days, several institutions announced that their plans to begin the fall semester with in-person instruction were being reversed or replaced with far more cautious approaches.
Duke updates reopening plans
With COVID-19 numbers trending in wrong direction, Duke will reduce number of residential students in fall semester.
Reopening colleges poses ethical questions, need for flexibility
…That flexibility has been key in all decisions Catholic higher education officials have had to make this year about operating amid a pandemic. "Subject to change" is essentially the modus operandi.
July monthly market recap: Big tech grows, market crawls up
Colleges and universities across the nation are faced with the difficult decision of bringing back students with an increased risk of COVID-19 spreading or keeping students online, which could very well see many students leave and not pay tuition, crippling the school for years to come.
Thirty years ago, Michael Young was faced with helping draft a plan to unify East and West Germany. Fast forward three decades and Young is president of Texas A&M University, and he looks back on his work unifying Germany as easier than navigating how to bring back a large student body as well as faculty and staff in the wake of a pandemic.
A threshold of 100 cases a day among students or faculty would most likely put Texas A&M on lockdown and move completely online, Young said. Many colleges, especially those who earn a lot from football games, are going to see continued financial struggles. The University of Michigan expected to lose close to $1 billion this spring, according to The Wall Street Journal.
More than 93% of U.S. college students say tuition should be lowered if classes are online
Prestigious schools such as Harvard University have committed to holding all of their classes online next semester and according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, 46% of colleges plan to hold some, or all, or their classes online. While many students agree that social distancing is vital, many have also raised concerns that they are still paying full tuition for what is now an online education. According to a survey of 13,606 college students in the United States by study guide platform OneClass, more than 93% of U.S. students believe that if classes are fully held online, tuition should be lowered.
As Students Flock to Gap-Year Programs, College Enrollments Could Suffer
Survey after survey has shown that 2020’s prospective college students are rethinking their plans. And while it’s too early to tell how many students colleges will lose, skyrocketing interest in gap-year programs could signal what’s to come.
6 months after global health emergency declared, doctors call on US to reset its COVID-19 response
Here in the United States, we’re still far behind when it comes to recovery. Health security experts at Johns Hopkins University say we have seen some success in treating the virus, but there hasn't been much success in responding to it, especially when it comes to testing.
“Many states did not invest in testing and many states did not invest in contact tracers, so when you see cases spiral out of control in certain states, it's not surprising to me,” Dr. Amesh Adalja of Johns Hopkins University said. “That's exactly the recipe you would set up if you wanted cases to rise.” Dr. Adalja says in order to tackle the spread of the virus, the US needs to prioritize testing, tracing and isolating.
Health experts across the country have also signed a letter calling on the US to shut down the country and start over. The letter includes a list of recommendations for what's needed before cities can reopen. It calls for enhanced testing capabilities, more contact tracers and more personal protective equipment.