A lone pedestrian walks on the campus of University of Illinois at Chicago. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
It’s no surprise that most colleges have decided to rely on partial or complete remote learning for now. And it’s no surprise, in turn, that students and parents are up in arms about being expected to pay the same high tuition.
Why do so many eager college kids and their parents scrimp and save and go into five-figure debt to pay for higher education?
To get that full “college experience.”
Because college is not just about academics, as important as that is. It’s also very much about immersing oneself in a new environment and getting the chance to become an adult — to move away from home and into a dorm, hang out in the student union, get to know peers from vastly different backgrounds.
And, yes, it’s about those all-night parties.
None of that is possible, at least not safely, in this time of COVID-19. Colleges that have welcomed students back to campus already for fall have seen coronavirus infections skyrocket, including more than 100 cases at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Nationwide, more than 26,000 cases and 64 deaths have occurred at some 1,500 colleges and universities since the pandemic began, a New York Times analysis found.
It’s no surprise, then, that most colleges have decided to rely on partial or complete remote learning for now, as the Chronicle of Higher Education reports.
And it’s no surprise, in turn, that students and parents are up in arms about being expected to pay the same high tuition. They’re signing petitions demanding rebates. They are, without a doubt, getting less for their money in terms of academics. Online lectures and seminars will always be second-best.
As North Carolina State University professor Bret C. Devereaux wrote recently in The Atlantic, “With online classes, learning outcomes often disappoint, and virtual instruction runs counter to the most important asset at a major university: personal interaction with highly qualified experts.”
But let’s understand. The United States faced a crisis in the escalating costs of higher education even before COVID-19. The pandemic has only made a bad problem worse. Fixing the problem now will include most of the solutions that we and others were pushing long before anybody ever heard of COVID-19.
Colleges and universities have to do a better job of containing costs. Here in Illinois, the Legislature has to better fulfill its obligation to fund state universities, rather than permit ever-higher tuition bills. And, if our nation wants an educated workforce that can compete with the world, federal funding to higher education should be increased. College grads, too, will need more options for loan relief.
No easy resolution
There’s no quick fix, though we urge universities to do what they can immediately to relieve the financial burden on families that may be dealing with job losses and other difficulties caused by this pandemic.
Case in point: The University of Illinois system has created a special …read more
Source:: Chicago Sun Times