In this week’s roundup:
College sports continue to be hit hard by the pandemic physically and financially, law and medical schools see an overall increase in applications and colleges and universities strategize for their spring semesters.
Stay tuned for our weekly roundup on what trends we’re seeing across institutions, how individual colleges and universities are responding to them and what national policy changes are affecting higher ed.
November 26 – December 2
- With the COVID-19 vaccine seemingly approaching fruition, many colleges and universities will likely be distribution centers for their employees, students and their communities at large.
- With over 100 games cancelled so far this season, college football has been immensely affected by COVID-19.
- Despite best efforts to keep college sports going as much as possible, athletics departments are facing tough decisions on staff cuts and possible reenvisioning of the athletics program as a whole at their institution.
- Unlike their counterparts in other sports, college cheerleaders are able to financially benefit from their “cheerlebrity” status through endorsements and social media ads.
- Graduates from the class of 2020 continue to look for jobs in a market devastated by the effects of COVID-19.
- While undergraduate enrollment is down during this admissions cycle partly due to uncertainty over what college will look like and how students will afford it, law and medical schools are seeing major increases in applications.
- Despite increased reports of dissatisfaction with their college experience (largely due to a lack of sense of community), a new study found that nearly 90% of students plan to re-enroll at their current institution for the spring semester.
- An organization called The Presidents Forum, a network of leaders from 17 colleges, released their framework of 10 principles for “serving an increasingly diverse student body.”
- Two Yale University College of Medicine professors are seeing great interest in their project to rate college and university COVID-19 dashboards, with interesting findings along the way.
- Higher education institutions across the country consider their options for the spring semester, taking into account the recent major spike in cases.
- Students are asking for similar pass-fail options for the fall semester as they were afforded in the spring. Those opposed cite flexibility in other areas, evidence of higher grades than in years prior and a questioning of the ethics.
- The pandemic and its effects on the fall and spring semesters have taken a toll on the financial outlook of many institutions -- especially small, private ones.
