Guardians of the Education Galaxy - Part One: Saving the School Year

Part 1 of a 2-Part Series of Impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education

It’s summer and instead of the typical vacation season, we are already thinking about how to get ready for this fall.

With the uncertainty around COVID-19 still lingering, classrooms from Kindergarten to Kinesiology are wondering whether school will start with students walking through the doors or opening their laptop. Or both.

This is particularly true in higher education. As it stands, most campuses can only reopen if they have testing capabilities, contact tracing, a reduced number of cases over multiple weeks, health system capacity and enough personal protective equipment to protect faculty, staff, and students.

Even if these conditions are met for domestic students, the American Council on Education is predicting a 25-percent drop in international student enrollment. And because those students sometimes pay triple the in-state tuition rate, this may have a significant revenue impact on many colleges and universities – potentially driving up costs.

There is a lot of lingering anxiety about returning to campus. As a result, the American Council on Education estimates that enrollment will drop in the US by about 15 percent.

In Canada and a few other countries around the world, while the estimates are flat on enrollment growth across the sector, we will see a lot of variability with some colleges seeing growth and others seeing declines – largely driven by uncertainty with international students.

And the hurried way that many campuses had to flip the switch to remote learning has left some students disappointed in the online learning experience. A small number of student coalitions have started to form at institutions around the US to demand refunds for this pandemic period. Paradoxically, millions are out of work — and the need for reskilling has never been greater.

So, what can schools do to prepare for the Fall?

For starters, if campuses are opening they will need to make sure they are doing so safely. And that’s going to be difficult for undergraduate institutions with thousands of on-campus students and large lecture halls. Current guidelines for many regions suggest that schools may have to reduce on-campus student body size to allow for smaller class sizes, make modifications to in-person labs, and reduce residence and dining hall occupancy.

Some institutions are considering limiting certain categories of students on campus — such as only allowing first and last-year students on campus — or only freshmen and sophomores.

And for many universities and colleges – this fall will mean classes will be fully online.

No matter what approach they choose, it will impact student learning, faculty working conditions, and challenge the institution’s bottom line.

We are on a long bumpy road to recovery and it’s likely that schools will be facing these choices for some time to come.

But here’s the thing — I had the privilege to see up close how educators and their leaders have been tackling the COVID-19 crisis. Yes, there were bumps along the road, but there were absolutely heroic moments where faculty and leadership stepped in and saved the school year for their students. So, I have every confidence that educators are up for what comes this fall, and in the months and years thereafter.

And that’s the focus of our next blog post by D2L’s Chief Strategy Officer, Jeremy Auger

Which you can now read -- please see Jeremy's post on Part 2 of this series.

And hope you join us to have a conversation on this topic at Fusion this Monday (July 20)!