@laralei : oh I absolutely agree, it was price gouging for the suites when they were two per room and also for the “traditional” dorms. I think that the cost of suites, if they’re one per room, is more understandable, as long as it’s kept as it was last year (ie., the price of a single for the cost of a former double seems better).
I don’t see how you can have “traditional” rooms with 2 kids in a small space and 20 sharing a bathroom until we have either a treatment or a vaccine. 
It’ll affect students who chose a PASSHE school due to costs more, alas.
With the dorm situation at WCU, and lack of off campus housing as well, a lot of kids sign up for off campus houses/apartments the year before they actually need them. Most of the parents paying the costs are saying their kids will be living in them come fall whether the college is open or not.
With D getting the campus housing, we would only be paying for the tuition and since D got enough aid to have that covered, we would have minimal expenses, but, I still hope to see them go back. She did not like the online classes and with our really poor internet service often got disconnected. She was so very annoyed as she got a B+ in one class though there were never any exams and the professor often didn’t show up at the times stated. Older professor w/ no online experience. She felt bad for him but was also ticked about the grade!
The school actually emailed her to see if she is coming back in the fall. I know there were a lot of parents of OOS kids who posted they will not pay OOS prices for online.
A solution would be that online = instate costs for all.
Although not PASSHE schools…some other PA universities announce plans…
2 more Pennsylvania colleges announce plans to hold in-person classes this fall
https://triblive.com/local/regional/2-more-pennsylvania-colleges-announce-plans-to-hold-in-person-classes-this-fall/
Uncertainty in the Fall: What a Bloomsburg semester may look like
https://bunow.com/uncertainty-in-the-fall-what-a-bloomsburg-semester-may-look-like/
For PASSHE Schools
Preliminary Guidance
Resuming In-Person Instruction at Postsecondary Education Institutions and Adult Education Programs
WCU has released plans for returning to campus in the fall. Usual masks, social distancing, hybrid of online and classroom instruction. They are eliminating fall break and once the kids come home for Thanksgiving, they will not be returning to campus but utilize remote learning for the rest of the semester.
It sounds good, but I don’t see how the dorms/housing is going to work. D was lucky to get campus housing, rare thing at WCU, but there will be 5 girls in the apartment, and she specifically has a roommate as well.
She will be going back, but still a concern.
PSU is doing the same @laralei .
WCU has gone TO for fall 2021 admissions. Which is a welcome development for my S21 (and many other 21ers I am sure) who will be applying there. He was registered for the March/May/June SAT. And June ACT. All were canceled.
He has not tested at all yet and is now registered for the August and Sept SAT. But the momentum there is just lost. So we’ll see what happens.
I know Millersville is TO as well. It already had been for certain populations in Lancaster. But extended it out.
General Assembly supports reforms to the State System, providing pathways to future success
https://www.passhe.edu/News/Pages/Releases.aspx?q=2020-06-24-System-Redesign-Legislation
“ A new process for the Board of Governors to adapt to changing market forces through creating, expanding, consolidating, transferring, or affiliating institutions.”
I suspect there won’t be a lot of “creating” or “expanding” as an immediate result of this legislation.
So who survives?
My daughter goes to Kutztown and loves it. We live in NJ. The school does have a larger ‘commuter’ population but it’s not a commuter school (where kids who reside on campus go home on weekends). If you have questions I’d be happy to answer!
Kutztown is well-known for its art program. Many students go there for that and don’t think it is “beneath” them at all, as it is hard to get into.
What? EVERYONE says that about Bucknell! My S went there and so many of his HS friends said they could never go to school out in the boonies, there isn’t anything to do etc. It is a real challenge for the Admissions office to overcome that image.
@jerseygirl1230 Yes, my daughter is considering Kutztown for the Applied Digital Arts major. Her main concerns were curriculum, internship opportunities, and job placement within her major after graduation. She’s the typical artist type and not at all into Greek life or partying. She wants to make sure she will be able to fit in with campus life versus going to an art school.
Just thought would update on WCU. They will be going online and remote for this semester. Disappointing as D has hit junior year and mostly major courses at this point, but I didn’t see how it could have worked. Lots of kids live off campus and since they can’t get out of their leases, many are living there. Apparently, lots of partying and get togethers, so I think a return to campus for fall would have been a disaster and they would have been closing anyway; so a wise move.
We are running in parallel - my daughter also is going into her junior year at WCU, and we, too, are disappointed that it can’t be business as usual - but in this reality I’m very appreciative of the school’s cautious, thoughtful approach. I love that their plan provides for international students, and think that the up-to-6-credit-overflow to winter/summer terms is a creative way to help students who might not learn optimally in a remote situation. Nothing is ideal in this strange situation for any school or any student, but WCU’s handling of this has confirmed me as a fan of President Fiorentino, and I’m cheering him and his staff on.
@anachron I know a lot of parents aren’t happy with the situation. I think WCU is handling these strange circumstances the best they can with so many unknowns. However, D is our third one through and at this point I am far less critical of anything!
Good they are accommodating those students who really need to be on campus. I was surprised at all the freshmen that will be living on campus. However, I think the school is trying to give them as much of a freshmen experience as possible so they can meet and connect with other freshmen. They seem to be assigned to the South Campus apartments. That is where D would have been living. If they go back in the spring, I hope D would still be living there, but that would mean moving the freshmen out!
I also like the idea of the 6 credit overflow for the winter/summer terms. I want D to sit down and look over her schedule for the next 2 years and see where she can take advantage of it.
My friend’s son is at Bloomsburg, also moving into his jr year, and the kids are still scheduled to go back. He has a very reasonably priced off campus apartment with his own bedroom. I think Bloom has some sort of hybrid system set up for classes. My friend has looked at his schedule and she can’t quite figure out exactly how it is going to work.
It will be interesting to see if these schools can keep infections down and actually make it through the entire semester.
The initial plans have been defined. Cal, Clarion, and Edinboro merge into one entity and Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield combine to a second.
The combinations would “ honor the local identity” of each school, whatever that means.
Fall 2022 is likely the earliest it could be in place.
https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/42773551/passhe-moving-forward-with-university-integration-plan
Front-page New York Times story today on Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and the sorry state of higher ed in the state overall.
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Not only is the problem in PA and Ohio but when one of the most common topics is “student loan forgiveness”…it is a country wide problem.