By Tosin Akintola
If you wrote a book based on the events of 2020, it would be a bestseller. We’ve had drama, tragedy, joy, suspense, mystery, ups, downs, and everything in-between. Having experienced nearly a year’s worth of events within the first few months, (you can take a trip down memory lane here!) it became abundantly clear this would be a year like no other. What seemed to be a typical year battling an administration often indifferent to the needs of students turned into a whirlwind of mini crises. It began with an abrupt switch to online education in the spring semester — followed by summer campus closures, racial justice protests, virtual classes, and a hotly contested reopening for the fall — ending now with a semester spent online, and a new administration on the horizon.
In a year like no other, with major events cascading into one another for what seemed like forever, keeping abreast of everything happening in higher education would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of journalists across the country. In recollecting this year through their stories, we honor their professional dedication — even amid the most challenging of times.
With a change of pace expected to hit our nation’s colleges and universities as the Biden-Harris administration gets underway, let’s first take a look back at this unprecedented year with some of the top stories of 2020.
Beginning of the pandemic, students go home, early shift to online learning.
Facing a global health crisis many in power were ill-prepared for, colleges and universities across America closed their campuses and sent students home for what we all hoped was a temporary break from the norm. The shift to online learning illustrated one of higher ed’s worst kept secrets: today’s students have more needs than colleges are equipped to provide. For a student population more diverse than ever before — 37% of students are 25 or older, 24% are parents, 40% attend part-time, and 64% work while attending school — the successful pursuit of higher education is not just a matter of tuition; rather it requires access to food, transportation, housing, and additional resources to get across the finish line.
Armed with that knowledge, or perhaps perceiving the lack of a student-centered approach in early responses to the pandemic, several organizations got to work alongside policymakers to provide financial support for students, particularly the most vulnerable groups.
What to do with student borrowers and their loans.
The possibility of a prolonged lockdown became a given, and policymakers shifted focus to protecting students during a time of increased vulnerability. President Trump extended the pause on student loan repayment, providing struggling borrowers with much needed relief. But as quickly as the good news blew in, the Department of Education worked to make it even harder for students to get legal restitution, claiming the process for applying for loan forgiveness was way “too easy”.
And these policy changes did not just affect current students; tampered technology artificially boosted for-profit colleges to the front of the College Scorecard, a major tool used by incoming students looking to make the best decision for their education. As Americans often consider higher education in response to economic downturn, it would have been prudent for those in positions of power to implement consumer protections for students and taxpayers alike. Yet, instead of increasing the amount of data available to students and making accountability a priority, resources were spent elevating an industry whose track record on student outcomes speaks for itself.
Preparing for the fall semester.
With move-in day looming, the conversation turned to the upcoming semester while administrators strapped with budget cuts and limited resources scrambled to devise plans for testing students and holding classes. And as Americans grappled with the plausibility of reopening college campuses in the fall, the nation was brought to a standstill with the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, forcing what many hope will be a reckoning with the deep injustices of our society. These long-standing inequalities, now clearly visible and exacerbated by the effects of COVID-19, culminated in significant decreases in enrollment numbers for Black, Hispanic, and Native American students, groups that had previously seen large gains in closing achievement gaps.
Navigating from one issue to the next, debates around campus re-openings came to the forefront, as states and institutions struggled coming to a consensus about everything from testing to teaching, and as budget cuts exposed egregious funding disparities between colleges and students. The haves and have-nots of higher education were never more visible than during this pandemic, as community colleges, HBCU’s, and other minority-serving institutions struggled to stay afloat, all while still supporting their underserved populations. Predictably, institutions with smaller budgets had to choose which aspects of their pandemic response they’d prioritize, unable to test their students and staff en masse while simultaneously providing the necessary resources to keep their campus safe through a prolonged pandemic.
It’s here and it’s happening: How the fall went.
While students struggled to acclimate to the reality of higher ed in the COVID era, colleges were restructuring their plans on the fly, with rising cases leading to hybrid-learning and online classes. Many colleges struggled to afford testing, forcing them to get creative with tracking and preventing the spread of the virus. It’s staggering to think that even in hot spots, colleges were unable or unwilling to test their campus community, inevitably leading to the continued spread.
Ending the semester in an election year.
As higher education became a part of the Presidential election via the student loan and student debt conversations, one policy idea that quickly picked up steam was doubling the maximum Pell Grant ,given it’s success in increasing college access among underrepresented groups, specifically low-income students. Aside from doubling Pell, a massive investment in higher education will be needed to counter the effects of the pandemic on our nation’s colleges and universities. Luckily, the Biden-Harris administration could be transformational for low-income students and under-resourced schools, as administrators work to close funding gaps between HBCUs and their peers — a long overdue agenda item.
With 2021 a few weeks away, many are looking to the new administration as the start of a students first agenda, closing the door on an era of indifference to student outcomes and correcting ill-considered policies.
