This week institutions continue to announce tentative plans for the fall semester with schools like Virginia Commonwealth University and Harvard stating their goal to be on campus come fall. As federal relief monies are dispersed, institutions question the implications of accepting funds.  And, around the country students are suing higher education institutions or striking to protest perceived lack of student support during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The Chronicle continues its extensive reporting this week as well as Inside Higher Ed.  WCET continues to provide updates on relevant federal policy changes.

Graduating students are grappling with a very different hiring environment amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. “One reality of the current job market is that many college students will now be competing with the millions of people who lost jobs during the pandemic, many of whom will be willing to take low-paying or unpaid work to get by or enhance their résumés,” reported Lynn Pasquerella, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. College career experts are advising students to move forward with job and internship searches but to recognize potential employers are in flux and searches may take longer.

Students at institutions like Vassar College, University of Chicago, and Ohio State University are refusing to participate in class or pay tuition or rent, demanding schools better meet their needs during the pandemic.  Student demands include: tuition reductions, student fee waivers, and freezes in rent for Spring 2020 semester.  At The New School, students are protesting tuition increases for the 2020-2021 academic year.  Students at Vassar College are frustrated that they were not included in a college decision to change the grading policy for Spring 2020.  In addition to strikes, students at institutions like Drexel and the University of Miami have filed class-action lawsuits against their institutions, “arguing that they paid for services that they are no longer receiving through online instruction.”

“We are going on strike because the university is taking a profit-oriented response to the crisis, rather than an approach that puts its vulnerable workers’ needs first.” - Danielle Carr, graduate student at Columbia University

This week, attention turned to what institutions are planning for the fall semester with some announcing hybrid fall classes or shortened fall terms.  Other institutions are reporting the extensive financial fall out of COVID-19; three colleges in the Vermont system will close and the University of Arizona announced furloughs.  WCET has provided additional updates this week on relevant federal policy changes.  The Chronicle continues its extensive reporting this week as well as Inside Higher Ed offering up-to-date reporting.

Education Dive and Politico report this week on the CARES Act and frustration with the time it is taking to get relief monies into the hands of students.  The American Council on Education is concerned students will be taxed on grants received from the CARES Act. The Department of Education released a second round of federal relief on Tuesday which institutions can use to“reimburse themselves for refunds of room and board costs or money they've spent on technology and internet access for students.”

Achieving the Dream hosted a town hall Monday addressing critical issues and concerns facing community colleges.  Achieving the Dream staff members shared best practices as leaders, faculty and staff from community colleges across the country listened in. Recommendations included investing in online mental health professionals, tutors and career advisors while also providing connections between students and community support resources. Panelists recognized the concerns of impending state budget cuts and encouraged attendees to think creatively about the fall semester start sharing strategies like shortened terms.

COVID-19 and its impact on higher education continue to be the focus of higher education news sources.  This week, attention turned to the CARES Act, the continued discussion of grading policy changes, and reports that institutions like Boston University are making plans for a Fall 2020 start without students on campus.  WCET has provided additional updates this week on relevant federal policy changes.  The Chronicle continues its extensive reporting this week as well as Inside Higher Ed offering up-to-date reporting.

Institutions are scrambling to address demands for refunds from students forced off campus by COVID related closures, reports Inside Higher Ed this week.  Many institutions began to provide partial refund plans in the weeks after closing. Students at the University of Minnesota petitioned their Board of Regents for refunds while students in Arizona have filed a class action lawsuit demanding partial repayment of room and board and student fees. Universities are reporting losses in the millions of dollars on student refunds: Clemson estimates it will refund $15 million, and the University of Maine reports it has paid out $12.8 million to students in room and board refunds.

The Chronicle reports this week on job training programs halted by COVID-19 closures and the impact of those closures on low-income students.  Students in high demand fields like nursing and welding have had to stop in-person training, and those in the final stages of work-based training are unsure of their future employment or the length of time it will now take them to finish their program. Many states are adjusting licensure requirements in programs like nursing by shifting clinical hours online via simulation versus direct patient care. Experts worry long delays in program completion will result in students dropping out - a result that would be damaging to the students and their local economies.

“Students who are enrolled in our career and technical programs and allied health programs are getting prepared to enter high-demand fields that pay family-sustaining wages. The delay in their ability to complete their education is keeping many of them in poverty.” Columbia Basin College’s president, Rebekah S. Woods.

COVID-19 continues to shape the semester as institutions navigate how to offer commencement virtually, consider plans for a fall semester that might start online, and develop creative approaches to the traditional spring admitted student programs.  WCET has provided additional updates this week on relevant federal policy changes.  Education Dive is continuing to update its resources on COVID-19’s impact on our field. The Chronicle continues its extensive reporting this week as well as Inside Higher Ed who offers up-to-date reporting.

Institutions are scrambling to address demands for refunds from students forced off campus by COVID related closures, reports Inside Higher Ed this week.  Many institutions began to provide partial refund plans in the weeks after closing. Students at the University of Minnesota petitioned their Board of Regents for refunds while students in Arizona have filed a class action lawsuit demanding partial repayment of room and board and student fees. Universities are reporting losses in the millions of dollars on student refunds: Clemson estimates it will refund $15 million, and the University of Maine reports it has paid out $12.8 million to students in room and board refunds.

The Hechinger Report examines shifts in institutions’ grading policies following the move to online learning.    Schools are moving cautiously as considerations must be taken for transfer credit (courses with grades of “pass” often do not transfer) and competitive professional or graduate programs which look for letter grades in completed courses.  Many institutions and entire systems (the Virginia Community College, for example) are setting grades to pass/fail for the spring semester with the option for students to receive a letter grade. Columbia, Stanford, Dartmouth and MIT, have opted to only award grades of pass or fail.  With 4 out of 10 students transferring each year, and often unable to transfer 40% of their completed coursework, the students with the most to lose in the shift to pass/fail grades will be transfer students.

As the week has unfolded, we see the continued impact of Covid-19 on institutions of higher education as schools look to shift online for summer and potentially fall semesters, and consider the financial ramifications.  WCET has an updated website which includes relevant policy changes.  Education Dive is continuing to update its resources on Covid-19’s impact on our field. The Chronicle continues its extensive reporting this week as well as Inside Higher Ed who is providing up-to-date reporting.

This week Education Dive examines the abrupt impact of Covid-19 on state funding of higher education.  At the beginning of March, experts anticipated modest increases to budgets and potentially new efforts to make tuition free for more students.  However, as the nation shifts towards a potential recession and state tax revenues decline, states will have fewer dollars to fund higher education programming.  Experts caution that it is too soon to fully understand the impact to college budgets.

Faculty and students are reporting cases of Zoombombing: live classes being held in the web conferencing platform Zoom being hacked.  Classes are being disrupted by disturbing images or crude submissions to the chat. The "bombs" typically “take the form of racist vitriol or pornographic content shared with the group by an unwelcome user.”  Insider Higher Ed reports this week on this disturbing trend. Teaching or hosting student meetings in Zoom? Refer to these helpful directions to better secure your Zoom sessions.

8.4 million: Total number of Zoom-meeting minutes the University of Texas at Austin hosted on March 31. 252,720: Number of unique participants. (Source: Chronicle of Higher Education)

As the week has unfolded, we see the continued shifts as institutions examine pass/fail grading for the spring semester and consider partial reimbursement for room and board.  Education Dive is continuing to update its resources on Covid-19’s impact on our field. The Chronicle continues its extensive reporting this week as well as Inside Higher Ed who is providing up-to-date reporting.

The Hechinger Report discusses this week the impact of school closings on college students across the nation.  In addition to handling the rapid transition to learning online, students are grappling with the uncertainty of what the future will bring.  Research projects have been interrupted, job fairs and internships as well as other critical job networking activities have been called off.

There was much coverage this week across news sources about Covid-19’s impact on college admissions. The Chronicle reports this week on a survey by  Art & Science Group. The survey of prospective college students found that “one in six high-school seniors who expected to attend a four-year college full time now think that they will choose a different path this fall.” The majority of students surveyed cited concerns about the ability to attend a first-choice college and reported that a campus “closer to home” was now a more realistic option for them.  Education Dive shares that more institutions are considering test-optional admissions processes alleviating the burden of SAT and ACT testing during the coronavirus pandemic .

“While we know there is always flux this time of year as students are getting their admissions notifications, it surprised us that more weren’t expecting to enroll at their first choice.” - Craig Goebel, principle in the Art & Science Group