Class of 2020 Hesitant to Pay Fall Tuition with Future Uncertainties
During a time when most high school seniors embrace graduation and end-of-year rituals, this year's class of 2020 is forced into a different form of closure.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused spring semesters around the world to end prematurely, or continue via online classrooms. Not only has this had a devastating toll on graduating students, but the COVID-19 era has many college-bound students reconsidering their investment in the upcoming fall semester.
Devon Post, an NSHSS ambassador and college-bound senior planning to attend the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, is one of those students.
“I know that getting a college degree is definitely a better start and you get better pay,” Devon said to The Christian Science Monitor. “But if they decide to do online this fall, I don’t know if I can justify paying thousands of dollars and taking out loans.”
Devon is one of many students contemplating their fall tuition investment based on future uncertainties. For many students, the idea of a “Zoom U” classroom dynamic is simply not the same, and, in turn, is not worth the thousands of dollars in tuition costs. NSHSS set out to better understand the overarching sentiment among students entering into a digitized world of higher education.
In an NSHSS survey conducted in April, about half of the U.S. high school and college students who responded said they could cope with e-learning and online classes in their colleges this fall, however, most would prefer in-person classes. Additionally, one-third of U.S. students surveyed said they would rather not enroll this fall if classes are online-based.
For many students, the college experience offers so much more than education and credit hours. The transition toward independence, networking, living in dorms, and being part of fraternities and sororities are just some of the components that make the first year of university life something to look forward to.
To learn more about “College amid coronavirus,” read the full article at CSmonitor.com.