The coronavirus crisis will bust up and reshape higher education — for better or for worse – Boston Globe
Chat bots, predictive analytics, and maybe a cheaper, more humane college experience.
There were no barbed debates in the classroom these past couple of months. No nervy, ecstatic runs through the March Madness basketball tournament. No glorious midnight rambles across the campus green.
The coronavirus pandemic ripped the heart out of the American college experience — and it may be some time before it beats again in full measure.
Colleges and universities have lost staggering sums; a few may never recover. And while many are cautiously planning to re-open their campuses in the fall, others have vowed to remain shuttered for the semester.
But for all the uncertainty lingering over the academy, there is a strange clarity, too.
With all the trappings stripped away, students and professors and administrators have been forced to reckon with some of the most fundamental — and consequential — questions in higher education.