The Coronavirus crisis has turned our lives upside down. Our once functioning society has ground to a halt, with over 95% of the population of the United States under stay-at-home orders. Across the world, more people are on lockdown now than were alive during World War II. Everywhere you turn, nothing is the same as it was some months ago. As Coronavirus shutdowns began to cascade across the country, colleges and universities moved quickly to order everyone home and to discontinue in person classes. Students were uprooted from their dorms, paid for meal plans became worthless and the evacuation from the university campuses began. With this mass upheaval, a new era for the future of education has begun.

Megatrends Rocking the World of Higher Education

With the move to disperse students back to their homes, colleges and universities began to conduct classes via Zoom and other online video conferencing methods. This instantly changed the value equation for higher education. University brochures touting the value of the on-campus experience and in-person networking and connections fostered by attending the college stood in stark contrast to the reality of students isolated in their bedrooms at home watching a handful of class lectures a week. This new reality has set the stage for an upcoming clash of the titans. On one hand, we have pupils and parents paying exorbitant tuition for a product that resembles far less expensive online learning and degree programs. On the other hand, we have colleges and universities who want to preserve their high tuition rates to assure their continued high profits and viability. Everything, from future enrolment to student loans, is affected.

The Perspective of Students and Parents

Over the last 30 years the cost of a college degree, adjusted for inflation, has doubled and the cost of education has gone up eight times as fast as wages. Students have increasingly had to rely on loans to finance their education and have often graduated with significant debt. Both parents and students, though, felt that the value of an in-person, on-campus education over time was worth the investment. In one month, the Coronavirus crisis changed everything. All classes are now delivered via Zoom and the other value elements of college life are stripped away completely. Parents and students are now saying that they will not pay high tuition for an online program. Statistics back up their stance. For instance, an in-person advanced math class on campus costs $2,500 in the U.S. while the same class online is only $400.

The Perspective of Colleges and Universities

As many are fighting to stay above water in this Coronavirus sea of change, colleges and universities are, for the most part, insisting on keeping high tuition rates in place. While some schools have announced they are freezing tuition increases, many other colleges have stood silent on the issue. As people around the US continue to organize protests about tuition rates, universities are more likely to avoid the discussion at all costs. The Coronavirus crisis is having a major financial impact on institutions of higher education. With dorms emptied and food service operations shut down, the schools are losing an important source of auxiliary revenue. The suspension of athletic events and programs has also meant a severe loss of revenue related to ticket sales. Private institutions are deeply worried about donations and the value of endowments in a declining stock market, and state schools see troubling futures with regards to funding from the state.