In this week’s Wednesday roundup:
Summer melt, international student enrollment and new higher ed institution guidelines from the CDC.
Stay tuned each Wednesday for our roundup on trends we’re seeing across institutions, how individual schools are responding and what national policy changes are affecting higher ed in the times of COVID-19.
Week of May 13-19
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidelines for higher ed institutions with considerations for maintaining healthy environments and operations for protecting students and employees while slowing the spread of COVID-19.
- Many residential colleges are making phased and/or flexible plans for summer and fall as they prepare for the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and myriad ways it might alter their educational offerings.
- The $3 trillion HEROES Act that would extend a student loan payment pause until September 2021 and broaden student loan relief, canceling up to $10,000 for some federal and private loan holders, passed the House of Representatives on May 15. Further actions are likely suspended until Congress returns from its Memorial Day recess in June.
- A new survey from the Institute of International Education (IIE) finds that many institutions are making provisions for the estimated 16% of international students who won’t be able to make it to campus in the fall due to travel restrictions and visa delays.
- The University of Notre Dame announced it would resume in-person classes two weeks early on August 10 so students can complete a full semester by Thanksgiving, making the institution one of the first to announce how it would reopen for fall.
- Colleges and universities are looking for ways to reduce summer melt with expanded summer course offerings, online summer bridge programs and remote peer-counseling.
- Low-income or first-generation students considering taking a semester or more off due to the pandemic face the risk of not being able to graduate at all.
- Due to pandemic-related hardships, financial aid offices at colleges across the country are beginning to experience a flood of financial aid appeals.
- Inside Higher Ed ran a piece in April identifying 15 scenarios for the upcoming fall semester. A subsequent survey conducted by Niche finds that, of the 10,000 students surveyed about those scenarios, on-campus instruction is the most appealing...as soon as it can be done safely.
- The University of Kentucky gave a reporter from The New York Times access to a series of virtual special committee planning meetings as Kentucky worked through the risks, challenges and possibilities of reopening the campus.
