The Shrinking Middle Class, Part 6

The middle class, and those aspiring to the middle class, families are incurring ever increasing amounts of debt to pay for consistently rising costs of attending college which many believe essential to achieve economic prosperity.  Subsequently, to compensate for stagnating academic achievement in order to compete for college admissions, middle class parents are spending on education related experiences, more commonly…

Continue Reading

A First Day of School to Remember

As college students prepare to return to college campuses, scattered in varying locales around the nation, to begin the 2020-21 school year, it will not be business as usual given the surrounding outbreak of the novel COVID-19 coronavirus; therefore, monitoring the fluid situation, locally, regionally and nationally, will be of vital importance.  The New York Times published a searchable college…

Continue Reading

Students Balk, Lawyers Talk

Currently, students at 25 different universities are suing for fees and tuition refunds. Students’ sentiments can generally be summized in the language of the Cornell students’ lawsuit:  Students have been deprived of the opportunity for collaborative learning and in-person dialogue, feedback, and critique. The remote learning options are in no way the equivalent of the in-person education the Plaintiff and…

Continue Reading

Open for business, partially

Although more states are beginning to reopen, which is progressing everyday, the degree of “reopening” will vary given the differences in political inclinations of each city, county and state, as well as the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak in a particular region. And, although states, counties and/or cities may be lifting shelter-in-place orders, as Goldman Sachs suggests, the process toward…

Continue Reading

The Unintended Consequences of Voluntary Testing

On May 11, University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Chancellor Pradeep Kholsa initiated the inaugural round of voluntary testing of the 5000 residents who chose to continue living in the residence halls scattered around the La Jolla, CA campus, since the closure of campus in mid-March. Students are live test subjects, participating in a trial of mass testing, so that…

Continue Reading

“I feel a change coming on…”

University enrollment has annually grown, despite four digit percent increases in the costs of college over the last three decades, seemingly making an inelastic demand for college eduation. Yet, for the 2020-21 school year, for the first time, there may be a a shift in the supply/demand equation given the changes in the recruitment for the newest class of students,…

Continue Reading

Ahead of the Curve: Week of April 27, 2020

Amidst the COVID-19 health crisis disrupting educational and instructional continuity, students, parents, and educators are asking and being asked questions about the current educational process, which is also spurring discussions about the value of education.   The following is a selection of education-related news stories from the past few weeks, offering insights about the shifts in both K-12 and higher…

Continue Reading

A Glimpse Into the Undergraduate Experience during COVID-19 Signals Declining Sentiment about the Value of a College Education

A student who attends a public flagship university in California characterizes distance learning as:  Chaos is an apt description. Zoom is challenging to manage and pre-recorded lectures lack humor. It’s difficult to focus on lectures…  Third year undergraduate The student, like many others, struggles to continue learning, conflicted about missing friends and her life in another city yet appreciative of…

Continue Reading

Opportunity amidst upheaval

The continued COVID-19 health crisis, and its impacts both economically and socially may have wide-ranging consequences for colleges throughout the United States. Families confronted by an array of changing circumstances are recalibrating their educational decision making processes, especially for high school seniors choosing between multiple colleges or deferring enrollment, as well as continuing college students choosing to re-enroll or take…

Continue Reading