Most experts predict we will not have a vaccine for COVID-19 until mid-2021, more than a year from now. In the meantime, the American higher education community is going to be turned upside down, and the educational effects will last long after the virus has been brought under control. What will the impact be? Here are ten predictions. Summary: disruption will finally arrive.
1. Colleges and universities will try to open, but it will be challenging.
Most private colleges and universities, and a large number of public ones, will welcome students on campus this fall, because they face a total financial disaster if they do not. The semester will, however, in no way resemble what we knew before the crisis. Many large lecture classes will meet online, all dorm rooms will be singles, dining halls will operate at reduced capacity with long lines, and most traditional campus activities will be curtailed. As the weather gets colder, universities will experience COVID-19 outbreaks, and many students will head home again. Some parents will sue when their children get sick or die; other will demand refunds or sue because the interrupted education does not meet their expectations. Every withdrawal will be accompanied with a 100 percent refund request. Universities will struggle to deal with all this, particularly because they will have laid off many of the student affairs and financial aid staff members on whom they would ordinarily rely to cope.