Correct. The question becomes when can quarantines be stopped (based on where we are on the curve, among other data points) so that a country/area can get on the road to normalcy, without the specter of overwhelming the healthcare system.
No one knows for sure. Everyone is watching how China does it, and whether the virus is going to make a comeback. Almost all new cases there are now coming from other places and that number is increasing everyday. Lockdown has been lifted in most parts of China and recovery is slow and gradual. Dining-in is allowed but there’re still few diners. Some semblance of normalcy may return by May or June, but the virus could make a comeback in the fall (if it does, it likely won’t be as serious, however).
@homerdog , yes, but the $4k you are expecting is a lot more than either of my kids would have received. And it’s not that much per student but it is a lot of the universities to absorb into the budgets. Since the budgets for this year are already spent, it’s going to have to be worked into future budgets either by raising costs or by reducing services.
But my point really was that at most colleges most of the students, at least in pure numbers, can’t really listen to the colleges saying ‘go home’ because they are home. They are living in houses and apartments and won’t get any money back to use to move, and they have no where to go. Many have jobs and need to still go to them.
My daughter had the flu twice in her senior year when living off campus. Yes, she relied on her roommates and friends quite a bit.
@twoinanddone but what jobs are they doing? Aren’t only essential jobs still happening? Maybe it’s because we are in Illinois, but hardly anyone is going out to work.
Those college students do have somewhere to go. Back to their childhood home. It’s not like they are 30. They are 21 or under.
And maybe I’m completely wrong on this but are all budgets spent? Without kids on campus, I’m sure many budgets won’t be used up this school year. Bowdoin is considering using the entertainment budget to help the town of Brunswick.
The expenses will have increased dramatically. All those extra cleanings, sanitizing, setting up online technology, and continuing to pay staff will add up to quite a bit.
The way I understand it is that we can expect to see a series of curves, albeit smaller and smaller ones. Each time there is a new spike, social distancing restrictions would need to be put back in place to flatten the curve again, at least until a vaccine is found. And of course, even after a vaccine is discovered, there is always the next pandemic to deal with.
So I imagine we may be heading toward a new normal. Many businesses could get used to having their employees work in a 2 months in the office/one month at home type of rotation depending on outbreaks, and even k-12 schools might be able to master this online learning to the point where the students could easily transition between the weeks they can be in school and the weeks they need to learn from home. I consider our current situation to be a kind of “trial by fire” in which we may well emerge with innovative methods to conduct business and education - methods that could even be more efficient and superior in some ways.
But what about residential colleges? We can’t realistically haul our college kids, flung all over the country, back home every time there is a surge in cases.
With the real possibility that universities might be forced to closed again (and again) for future outbreaks, sending our students to school out of state won’t make sense for most, both logistically and financially.
@roycroftmom I agree that some costs will increase. For sure, schools will now have to spend money on supporting professors to teach online. For schools that are closed and kids have moved out, the dorms are supposed to sit for a certain number of weeks and then be cleaned a certain way. Not sure that’s any more expensive than what they would normally do. And budget for workers will be spent as budgeted I would think.
But of course it’s all a mess and all colleges are going to have to figure out how best to deal with smaller endowments and increasing costs.
I’m starting to wonder when colleges will start to plan options for fall if this continues. And when will it makes sense for us to start asking? If I had a 2020 high school senior, I think I’d be asking questions before depositing but I doubt schools will have any answers before May 1.
They all must be starting to plan, though, don’t you all think? With all of the unknowns, it seems like schools will need a number of contingency plans - one for if kids absolutely cannot return to campus, one if kids return at a later date, one if kids can return but face the possibility of needing to go back home if a second wave hits. It’s so complicated.
I overheard my H telling D21 that she may need to choose a college without visiting so I think he’s also wondering how long this will go on. We will be spending this spring break doing virtual info sessions and tours but I really hope he’s wrong and we can get her to some campuses in the fall.
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Perhaps since your college student goes to a LAC where all students live on campus, this simply isn’t possible at all schools. Not everyone has the option or desire when they choose college to go somewhere that guarantees housing for four years.
My daughter studied abroad in the fall (thankfully!). As a result, she was not guaranteed housing when she came back for spring semester, and if she did get it, she would get placed where there was an open room, not necessarily with people she was compatible with. She and her two friends, who also spent fall semester abroad, instead chose to rent an off campus apartment with a six month lease.
We are locked into that six month lease, so even if our daughter came home this month, we’d have to continue paying her share through the month of June. Even though she is in a “shelter in place” state, she works in a bakery that is still open. At the time we made the decision for her to stay, things had not gotten this bad. We knew she was “safe” where she is, and if things got dire, she was going to go stay with BIL who lives just over an hour from her. We made that decision for a variety of reasons a) she was still working and it wasn’t considered risky, and every bit of money she was making she is saving for spending money b) she lives in a small garden apt complex, not in a complex with a lot of college students who are not necessarily “social distancing” c) we are a family of six in a not so large house with two barky dogs - staying in her apt is much more conducive to online learning rather than at home sharing bandwidth with three siblings also online and Dh who is working at home. Sure, I’d prefer having my family all together now, but it is what it is now and dh’s entire family is in CA if she needs help.
So that’s her story. Her roommates? One works at a restaurant and that job is how she pays her rent. If she goes home, she has no income and no way to pay her rent. The other has a mother at home who is in an at-risk category. If she went home, she would have to self-quarantine for at least two weeks. She also has a work-study campus job, that she can mostly do from their apartment; she also needs that income in order to pay her rent. I have no idea what her roommates parents do for a living and whether they are in jobs that enable them to keep working but I do know that neither is upper middle class so paying their daughters’ rent is most likely going to be a hardship, if they are even able to pay it.
So several things to consider when determining whether a kid should just leave their off-campus apartment and go home. I’m sure there are plenty of other kids in similar situations.
I don’t think they are going to have any answers for several months. The worst hasn’t even happened yet in the US. With no vaccine, it’s hard to imagine that the colleges would even accept students back in the Fall. At present, you have to prove you have been inoculated to the most dangerous / communicable illnesses before you can go to college. Why would coronavirus be any different? This is uncharted territory.
Considering most schools haven’t said a word about summer courses, I’d wouldn’t expect any fall-related announcements until July. It’s a decision that colleges really don’t want to make and I’d wager that most will wait until the very last minute to announce it.
Reading that colleges will put off the down payment for May 1st. Will post the link once I find it. It was like 200 colleges on it.
This NACAC tool lets one search for schools that have extended their deposit date.
https://www.nacacnet.org/news–publications/newsroom/college-admission-status-coronavirus/
So have to catch up tonight but brought my daughter back to her apartment but she’s moving the last 2 months onto another apartment with 1 person. Her roommates here are doing homework in their pj’s. Everyone complaining of online classes not working great. One is going on a social distance walk with another friend. They get it here. Their taking it seriously. This was good to see. That is what I was worried about as a parent. But she will be able to get her work done more efficiently. All these kids went home but now are back. All off campus housing. She wants to be around her friends since they graduate in May. I get it.
My D had four classes today online. Other than some buffer issues, it sounds like it was gone smoothly.
Purdue has it’s first case of a student with the virus. No news as to if the student is home or on campus.
Spoke to my son at Michigan on my way home. He’s happy. He likes that all his class’s are recorded except for 1 “live” virtual class. This way he can look at his Tuesday and Thursday class back to back then do the homework. He said this actually works much better for him. ?. Also as he understands it classes are pass /fail this semester for engineering. But he can unlock a grade to help the GPA or not. Also like no failing grades but if you get below a C then it’s marked something due to the Covad virus. I just got home so have to check that out.
He usually walks like 15 minutes to classes and in between then back to his apartment. He also lost weight. So I told him since he is the only one in the 2 room apartment to get outside a bit and take a walk to clear his head and some exercise. So he told me “when” he leaves his bedroom he does walk around the apartment. Other then that he not going anywhere… Lol…
Between squats, burpees, sit-ups, pushups, lunges, using a backpack ? as a weight, exercise is just matter of setting aside 15-30 minutes a day. 
Also, there are many websites offering free at-home no-equipment programming. PM me, if you want more info, since I can’t post links here. Also, you could buy him an ERG (rower) or air bike too.
My D has a 12-hour open book exam tomorrow. Michigan is really going out their way to make classes, homework and exams easier to manage in light of the shutdown.
@sushiritto… Not for engineering. No 12 hour tests. Standard 80 minute test. They are stock piling work on them. At least for his field. Lots of group projects etc. He said if he had 12 hours for any test might as well just give out all “A” s …
He knows what he can do exercise wise. Just has to do it. I might go up there this weekend and get him out a bit. Maybe go to the Arb and just get out. Need to start to bring back somethings home anyway.
Just brought back lots of stuff from my daughter’s college as she shifts living spaces. Man, I so wish my kids lived much further then driving distance… After 4 years my daughter says “I don’t really need all this stuff”… Like no kidding ?.
No 12 hr exam at Purdue either. D has a 90 minute thermo exam Thursday.
In normal college situations, some instructors give take-home open-book tests. Naturally, the questions and problems are much more difficult than for an in-class closed-book test.