The post was to highlight the cost difference between public vs private …if classes went virtual. The 2 schools that were mentioned are both very strong, and I have no doubt that UT Austin would do a great job.
It goes without saying that we cannot generalize and say that private schools provide a “better” education, or public schools provide a “better” education. It depends on the school. It depends on the student. It depends on the fit.
I will admit that some of the public schools (not all) are handling Covid poorly (not necessarily the school’s fault).
What I am saying is that I expect most big state schools will end up just like UNC. Why would they not? And if we give them all a chance, we are going to have thousands of Covid cases. UNC has made the call to send kids home instead of keep them on campus now. Will other schools follow that lead? Wait until there are outbreaks and then send kids home to their hometowns? I hope not. Let’s bring kids together to party and catch the virus and then go back home? Yikes. They shouldn’t be there in the first place. Apparently UNC wanted classes to be remote and for the dorms to stay closed but the state made them open. UNC seems to have known it wasn’t right to bring kids to campus. I don’t know why other schools won’t keep kids home.
I guess we will see what happens. I’m sorry if your son ends up coming home but that’s always been something we all knew could happen, no? Why are we waiting for the big breakouts to bring them home? I was all for trying but UNC and Iowa State and so many others are already showing it’s not sustainable.
I keep reading all these college kids are adults , if so why does all the aid depend on what their parents make??? Seems like schools and or the gov’t want sin both ways.
@homerdog -I did not send my kid to UNC so I would hope UNC does not get to choose if my kids LAC closes, did I think my sons school would kick kids off campus, no I figured they needed the cash. do I expect his classes to go all remote at sometime in the fall if Sh$t hits the fan yes. DO I fully expect him to get more than one day of classes before someone decides , ok UNC et al screwed up so lets close everyone down. As you have mentioned there is a big difference between a LAC and the UNC’s of the world. No idea if Perdue can make it work but lets at least give them a chance. NJ went into lockdown pretty early while most of the south did not, now things are better here but worse there, one could make the arguement, you reap what you sow, would you be OK with your son getting a week on his Maine Campus last year??? We have 50 states doing 50 different things ( well really cluster of states doing things kind of like the big 5 conferences in NCAA football) I doubt all the school cafe workers and bus divers and guards share your view of if UNC et al screws up shut the Ivy’s with them, and everyone else as well.
What I am saying is that I expect most big state schools will end up just like UNC. Why would they not? And if we give them all a chance, we are going to have thousands of Covid cases. UNC has made the call to send kids home instead of keep them on campus now. Will other schools follow that lead? Wait until there are outbreaks and then send kids home to their hometowns? I hope not. Let’s bring kids together to party and catch the virus and then go back home? Yikes. They shouldn’t be there in the first place. Apparently UNC wanted classes to be remote and for the dorms to stay closed but the state made them open. UNC seems to have known it wasn’t right to bring kids to campus. I don’t know why other schools won’t keep kids home.
I guess we will see what happens. I’m sorry if your son ends up coming home but that’s always been something we all knew could happen, no? Why are we waiting for the big breakouts to bring them home? I was all for trying but UNC and Iowa State and so many others are already showing it’s not sustainable.
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June was still a scary time. And there were schools that knew enough in June to make the call to severely limit kids on campus and deliver remote instruction only. Bowdoin did it on June 22. Harvard and MIT didn’t take much longer. There are others but I cannot remember now. Even back then, our discussion was about how big state schools could not afford to disinvite kids to campus and go all remote. Needed room and board. Needed sports. We knew that many large schools felt that had to give it a shot.
Now, though, time to shutter up. Those students blew it. So kids in the dorms go home this week. Maybe the schools pay for tests to be sent to them so they can see if they are positive and they know to isolate at home. Tell them they can’t take class unless they spit in the tube and send it back to school. As for kids on campus? That’s the local authority’s problem. The police have to deal with that.
There are countless reasons why schools have or have not planned to reconvene in person for the fall, but as groups come together there are two things I’m struck by…
We know better. When groups assemble the virus spreads. Doesn't matter if it's a meat packing facility, a political rally, or kids (at summer camp, school, etc.). If we bring people together, the virus spreads.
There is stress in everything right now, but the students at schools where they have known they would be remote for a while (Bowdoin, Princeton, Rutgers, Swarthmore, Cal State) are much more at ease about how the coming year will go.
I know, your kid this or a niece that…there are always exceptions…but deep down almost everyone knows the safest way forward is apart for now. Many don’t feel the risks are that great, but they don’t know. Nobody knows.
We know there are sharks in the water…are we going to keep pressuring students, teachers, and support staff to go swimming?
However, many students living off-campus live in similar density places like fraternities, sororities, cooperatives, off-campus dorms and similar places.
I have not forgotten that not to long ago UNC was exposed as having created a bunch of sham courses for athletes so they didn’t have to pass real classes. That was a rogue operation that didn’t have institutional backing, but it did go on for years without anyone looking into it, which shows their priorities
Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I don’t think UNC has sent any kids Home- classes have gone remote. They have given kids an out, if they want to leave… Refund of room and board.
USC did not allow students on campus so many (including new freshmen) decided to live at a high rise apartment complex across the street. The day of move - in was Saturday and that night, a student took a photo from her room on the 7th floor of a huge party down below with at least 100 people jammed together, most not wearing masks. This was posted on Reddit and Facebook and caused quite a stir. I am not optimistic for any universities making it beyond a couple of weeks.
You mean USC in LA or South Carolina? USC in LA is all remote learning so there is nothing left for them to do. Apartments are not their responsibility.
The experience at UNC and other large state flagships, should not be held against their administrators who are making decisions to allow students the option to return, students are not being required to return. As public institutions supporting the economy of entire regions, they serve a critical role for their states. Managing returning students is difficult to due when they do not have administrative staffing to monitor and provide thorough and complete testing. Also, by their nature, their housing is large scale and dense. Nonetheless, the situation at UNC casts doubt on the point that state schools will benefit from the COVID experience vs the LACs.
I think this is exactly right. This is why the UNC news is a real body blow for the fall semester: no large school will be able to make it work face-to-face.
People may fault UNC in particular here, but I don’t know if they’ve done things any better or worse than any other state college. It’s just a probability thing. If you have thousands or tens of thousands of young people on campus, some will have the virus. And, as these initial experiences suggest, expecting college students not to socialise is not realistic.
I think what we’ll see now is other college leaders looking at the UNC outcome and deciding to pull the plug. The cost of moving students in and then moving them out again outweighs the cost of going all online.
And this will have a lot of knock-on effects for the institutions and the sector (and, of course, for college sports)…
Appears that Holy Cross is the only institution to close its campus in Worcester. WPI, Clark University, Mass College of Pharmacy and Assumption College campuses will open to students in some form or another. Not sure if HC ever explained what the "local rules " were that made them close versus all the other colleges in the area. Have parents received any further information from the school?
UNC has gone full remote. They are trying to de-densify the campus by encouraging students to leave and giving them a full refund, but so far they have not required students to leave.
Young people can get quite sick (although less common). One parent just asked what to do if a Covid + student’s symptoms are getting progressively worse…health services is closed now. The hospital is right there on campus and this parent was urged to get the kid to the ER. Scary.
Schools are held responsible for a lot things regarding their students conducts and that has been an issue for years in Town/gown relationships. Many smaller towns with large student populations are not going to easily tolerate the recklessness of college students.
It’s not in the classrooms that COVID spread is happening. Some of these schools haven’t even made it to the classroom stage of college.
This parent posted around midnight. Student health services was closed at that time.
There were some large gatherings on campus outside of the dorms, and a few off campus parties. What, exactly, did the “powers that be” think would happen?