Published by EducationDIVE
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Incoming traditional-age students, however, don't seem keen on starting their college careers online. Several recent polls suggest they're more likely to forgo enrolling this fall if their preferred institutions don't reopen in-person.
"Students generally want to return to campus if it's possible, and they'll tolerate restrictions if they're back on campus, like taking their temperature when they go in a building, social distancing, living in a hotel," said Rick Hesel, principal of Art & Science Group, a higher education consultancy. "And if they can't be, I think then we're going to see pretty serious consequences."
Among those is the possibility that more students will take a gap year or gap term. Although most colleges allow students to defer their enrollment, many also offer their own gap year programs or partner with organizations that sponsor them.
An April survey of nearly 1,200 college-bound high school students found that 17% no longer plan to attend a four-year school full-time in light of the pandemic, according to Art & Science Group. Of those, about one-third plan to take a gap year or defer enrollment until spring. And several recent media reports and other surveys suggest students are seriously considering it as an option in lieu of more online classes.
These predictions have some college officials concerned, fearing they won't be able to fill their seats in the fall. "If (those) students take a gap year, that's a fraction of students that won't enroll and won't pay tuition," Hesel said. "It will add to the financial problems."
It seems that findings like these are not unusual as many eschew the idea of taking out private student loans just to go to school online. Accordingly, colleges and universities across the nation scramble to hit their enrollment numbers for the coming academic year.
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