About three weeks ago, the lives of many college students were changed dramatically.
With the rise of COVID-19 in the United States, universities across the country decided to close their doors – campuses were shut down, students were sent home, classes were moved online and some colleges have even decided to postpone graduation ceremonies. Many students have not been thrilled about this change, after all, this is not what many signed up for.
According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the total cases of the coronavirus in the US have surpassed 190,000 and the death toll is now 3,128. The sheer pace this virus is spreading has caused universities and colleges to try and keep up with measures to keep their students safe.
The measures they have imposed, while necessary, have caused some to wonder about refunds, access to necessities and the overall quality of their education as they have been moved to online platforms. This brings up the question of what precautions universities are taking to curb the possibility of students deciding that this is not worth it, and they should just drop out.
As of right now, there have been no recorded fluctuation in dropout rates due to the current situation, but there is suspicion that due to student inequality, previous struggles with classes and the overall stress of this new world we live in, it is more than likely that students will start to give up. This is a major concern for these institutions, many of which were already struggling to keep students enrolled and cannot afford to give needed financial aid to students who have been displaced by this situation.
According to USA Today, institutions like Berea College in Kentucky have cancelled their semester entirely. Others – including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Middlebury College in Vermont and Wellesley College in Massachusetts – have said their online classes will either be graded leniently or not at all.
Many students are calling for refunds or cancellations either to their colleges, on websites like Change.org or directly to the federal government. If students are not able to receive the funding and support that they had from their universities due to COVID-19, there is a very good chance they could simply not afford to continue their education this semester.
While here at the University of Wyoming nothing has been directly stated about a concern for students dropping out, it is clear they are making changes to keep students enrolled. On March 26, the university sent out an email informing students they could petition for an “S/U” or “pass/fail” grade rather than a letter grade. Students have until April 17 to request this change and it will not affect a student’s grade point average (GPA). This should help in alleviating the stress of not being able to get a good enough grade in a class and hopefully should allow students to be able to keep scholarships.
On April 1, UW students received an email stating that the university has announced a $2 million budget to help students in need. In this plan, UW student workers will still be paid, a $500,000 emergency fund has been established, the university will be providing computers and other technology to allow students to complete online course work and it also mentioned UW’s student government’s, ASUW, student stipend plan of $300 per student who request it, which has, unfortunately, already been exhausted.
Decisions like these will hopefully give students the ability to continue their education and work to uplift rather than distress.
“We remain unshakable in our determination to provide our students with every opportunity to succeed,” said UW acting President Neil Theobald in an email sent April 1 to students. “As a family, we will overcome and recover, more resilient than ever before.”
