Remote Learning and Five Figure Tuition

Colleges and universities have struggled to determine how to hold classes for the fall semester after the 2020 school year was moved online due to the coronavirus pandemic. One major debate was the consideration of a price cut for tuition at both public and private institutions. Many schools have declared that all courses will be taught remotely, while others are taking on a more blended approach with both traditional and online teaching. Among schools that moved forward with all-remote learning are Yale, Harvard, Princeton and the University of California system. Of these, only Princeton has offered a 10% price cut for tuition. This price cut is more difficult for public schools that use tuition to generate revenue, in comparison to private institutions with large endowments. More statistics on universities’ plans can be found here.

In response to the lack of tuition reduction, students have filed class action cases against universities over tuition prices for online classes. During the remote portion of the spring semester, students struggled to keep up with classes without study spaces, quiet libraries, and interactive class settings. Some students didn’t even have enough space to work. That said, these institutions pride themselves on the quintessential 4-year experience of academia, dorm hangouts, late-night group study sessions, and football games. Therefore, should tuition still be paid in full when the only option is remote learning?

While opening my mail this past summer, I came across a New York Magazine cover with images of drinking teens, football games and outdoor concerts with the title, “Is College Worth a Fortune If It Can’t Be This?” As a rising sophomore at Wake Forest University, I cannot imagine how the incoming freshmen will properly assimilate into college life without these crucial events to meet new people. I’m grateful for my face-to-face relationships with my professors in the classroom, as well as the friendships I made in my required first-year classes. On the first day of class, many of my professors made each student turn to the person sitting next to them to ask one another our names, interests and home states. This interaction was crucial to the classroom dynamic and assimilation for young freshmen entering a new school. The friendships I made in the dining hall and at sports events are irreplaceable.

This fall, schools are approaching the socially distanced dining hall situation in different ways. The University of Wisconsin in Madison is using OpenTable for reservations at their outdoor restaurant at only 25 percent capacity. Cornell has opened satellite locations where students can pick up meals and has opened “food-court style" eating spaces to expand seating for those sitting in the dining room adjacent. At Wake Forest, the dining halls have limited capacity to no more than two at a large table and has set up large white tents around campus to eat outdoors. Overall, the opportunity to sit with a large group of friends or even join a student from your dorm sitting with new people in the dining hall is lost.

Despite these challenges, freshmen at college still have the opportunity to become close with their halls and freshman class. The first few weeks of college are normally hectic, with students racing from class to class with the overwhelming feeling of having older students all around. This year, the freshmen class has more opportunities to have distanced study sessions without the pressure of upperclassmen all around. Another benefit is that professors are understanding and sympathetic during this unconventional situation. With the rise of technological issues over Zoom and learning from a remote setting, all students, but especially freshmen, can more easily assimilate into college courses with less social pressure.

It’s safe to say that the fall semester will continue to be unpredictable with challenges never seen before by universities and students alike. As an undergraduate student, I have looked forward to these pivotal years my whole life, especially during high school where I worked the hardest for this very time. To me, tuition should not be based simply on the ability to take a class, whether in person or online, but rather the entire college experience. With heavy restrictions and rules set in place, time will only tell how this year may go and how universities will continue to proceed.

By Margaret Rand

Wake Forest Student, New Yorker and art lover.

A helpful source to read:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/abc-news-exclusive-harvard-law-student-sues-university/story?id=71345292