How COVID-19 Affects Your Student Going Off to College This Fall

What will college look like in the fall?

The Chronicle of Higher Education is currently tracking colleges’ and universities’ plans for the fall 2020 semester. These plans are changing as the virus continues to morph and change. In May, 74% of schools said that they were planning for in-person classes in the fall. Now only 51% of schools say they plan to be open for in-person classes in the fall. Since May, the number of schools that have come fully out and said they are planning to be online in the fall has risen from 1.6% to 12%. 34% (as opposed to a previous 5%) are planning a hybrid model, Only 1% of schools are waiting to decide. I hypothesized in May that while 74% of schools said they planned to be in-person in the fall, that plan cannot happen in a vacuum. I stated that if there is a second-wave outbreak or the situation does not look safe come August, that number may decrease substantially. It seems as if that is exactly what has happened. The number of schools planning to be in-person in the fall may continue to decline as more studies surface of college students gathering in groups and then subsequently testing positive for COVID.

Should my student take a gap year?

Colleges are updating their gap year and deferral policies in response to COVID. Schools such as Dartmouth, who had once told students that if they did not want to attend in the fall they needed to cancel and re-enroll, have changed their policies to allow students to defer for one year. One of the most important things to think about if you are considering taking a gap year is that you want to have a plan. Many things that are normally offered as gap-year programs are not running the same way they used to in the past, but there are also different and new virtual offerings available.

We didn’t apply for financial aid before but now we need to, is it too late?

It’s not too late! The best option for those whose situation has been affected by coronavirus is to contact the financial aid office at their school immediately. College financial aid administrators can facilitate a financial aid appeal or special circumstances review in situations where there's been a major change in circumstances such as a job loss, illness, or divorce. This can involve updating information on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and making an adjustment to the aid that's available.

More than half of U.S. high-school seniors have a parent or guardian who lost a job, has been laid off or was furloughed during this challenging time, according to a new poll by market research firm Art & Science Group. More than a quarter of these students say their first-choice college or university may no longer be affordable.

The Federal CARES act included $14 billion dollars in emergency relief funds for colleges and universities. Half of the money institutions receive must be used for emergency financial aid relief to students related to the expenses related to the disruption of campus operations. Eligible expenses include food, housing, course materials, technology, health care and child care.

On April 21, 2020, the Department of Education specified how the emergency grants must be given. The grants must be given directly to students through debit cards, electronic transfers, or by check.

Will schools be offering a discount if classes are online in the fall?

Most likely, no. Schools that are online in the fall will be cheaper than normal by default because the school will not be able to charge room and board. The school will likely also not charge fees that normally go alongside tuition. Those fees normally account for access to on-campus facilities and resources. Tuition itself, however, is not likely to be discounted. This is the subject of lawsuits that have been lodged against at least 60 schools across the United States. Schools are likely to have a different online experience in the fall than what students experienced in the spring, as schools had to scramble to come up with contingency plans last minute.

What should I expect to happen with waitlists?

There is a large possibility that there will be a large summer melt. What is summer melt? Summer melt is the phenomenon in which students who have graduated from high school choose not to go to college after they have been accepted but before the first day of classes. In a typical year, about 40% of high school seniors make this decision. A recent study showed that 87% of colleges and universities surveyed expected summer melt to be higher as almost 1 in 5 high school seniors surveyed said their college plans have changed since the coronavirus.

This change of direction comes for a variety of reasons: health, financial, safety concerns. The largest group of students affected by the coronavirus will be first-generation low-income students, many of whom will need to make other plans because of finances, or who themselves will be working in essential jobs to help support family members who may have lost their income.

The results for students in the class of 2020? Schools are likely to be going into their waitlists long into the summer to fill their incoming class. Of course, this won’t be true for all universities, and you shouldn’t expect to see this at flagship state universities who may attract more local students who originally planned to go away. This could certainly be the case for more expensive mid-to-high range institutions though.

I can be contacted at info (at) smontgomeryconsulting (dot) com. Feel free to tweet questions to me @sydamontgomery.