“I feel that the future I’ve been working towards my whole life is gone now” — What Students Have to Say About the Coronavirus

The infamous class of 2020, graduating into an unstable economy that will likely be left with irrevocable scars, is a club few students are happy to be a part of.

Many recent college graduates, wracked with anxiety and frustration, have been struggling to lay the foundations for a career against rapidly evolving economic, cultural, and political terrains. Abundantly clear is the lack of any sort of roadmap: no one, university administration included, can predict which sectors will be restructured by the pandemic, or which industries might collapse and emerge in its wake. The crushing uncertainty of the next few years — and the pressure to succeed in spite of it — can at times feel suffocating, and with no playbook to turn to, recent graduates and current students across the United States have been left feeling utterly disillusioned.

This disappointment isn’t surprising. In June, Pew Research Center found that the U.S. unemployment rate had risen higher in three months of COVID-19 than it had in two years of the Great Recession; that same month, a survey of 38,000 individuals by Temple University found that two in three students who were employed before the pandemic are now experiencing job insecurity, ranging from lost jobs to reduced hours and pay. Another study conducted in June by SimpsonScarborough found that 40% of incoming freshmen were likely or highly likely to not attend any four-year college this fall — a delay that, according to economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, could lead to a potential loss of $90,000 in lifetime earnings.

There’s been no shortage of articles written over the last few months about the difficult road ahead for students and early career professionals. There is, however, a lack of content that speaks directly to students and recent graduates — content that seeks to not only elevate their thoughts and experiences, but communicate to college administrators their greatest concerns. In response, we created a survey over the summer to gauge students’ feelings about the pandemic, circulating the link through various college communities on Reddit. What follows is a summary of the responses of over 450 college students across the United States, from schools such as Iowa State, San Diego State, CSU Long Beach, Oklahoma State, UC Riverside, Brigham Young University, the University of Kansas, and many more.

This pandemic and its accompanying economic downturn may very well define our generation, and universities are falling short of guiding their students through the many obstacles and landmines being created by COVID-19. Our hope is that the following data will serve as a snapshot of the sentiments held by the ‘COVID class of 2020’ — and perhaps provide some ideas for how best to support students through this crisis.

The Survey

Conducted via Google Forms, the survey included five open-ended free-response questions, all optional and each aimed at uncovering different aspects of how students currently feel about their education and post-graduation plans. No names or email addresses were collected, with the goal of gathering more honest responses.

58.8% of respondents identified themselves as juniors or seniors; 19.7% as freshman or sophomores; 13.2% as recently graduated from undergrad; 4.9% as graduate students; and the remaining 3.3% as either recently graduated from graduate school or “other.” Regarding other demographic traits, 45% of respondents identified themselves as underrepresented minorities, 33% as low income or Pell eligible, and 27% as first generation college students. Roughly 95% of students agreed to have their responses anonymously included in this report.

Greatest Fears

What do you feel most anxious about when it comes to how the pandemic will potentially impact the economy and job market?

Throughout the survey, responses were punctuated by strong emotions — not just anxiety, but fear, anger, dread, confusion, apathy, and hopelessness. Some students wrote about their friends and family. A handful wrote about their own children. Others wrote about graduate school applications, paying their bills, building a resume, or securing entry level jobs. The majority cited uncertainty and a lack of information as the primary driver behind their anxiety.

Concerns about the quality and personal fit of jobs that will be available during the pandemic, as well as in its aftermath, were prevalent. One graduate student at Penn State wrote, “I’m nervous [that] I’ll jump onto the first available position and be miserable and anxious, instead of feeling like I can look around for a job that suits me.” By the same token, an upperclassman at UC Riverside wrote, “I worry I won’t be able to find a job that can help me pay for my bills. I don’t want to have to go work at Starbucks with a 4-year degree in something I’m passionate about. I don’t want to make coffee, I want to help marginalized people and at-risk youth.”

Other students worry that it will become much more difficult to secure “high up” jobs, and that many of the jobs left standing after the pandemic will become increasingly competitive. A student at the University of Iowa fears that “there won’t be a decrease in jobs, but that there will be a decrease in interesting jobs. Less innovation, risk-taking, global interaction, etc. I’m sure I can get a job, but my worry is if it will be the exciting experience I want it to be.” Some students also expressed concern that they’ll be exploited in the midst of the pandemic, with one recent graduate from Iowa State who fears that their current salary got lowballed writing “I don’t want to be underpaid and worked harder [by my superiors].”

Numerous students are also concerned that opportunities to be trained at starter jobs will now be in serious jeopardy, with one upperclassman at Rutgers writing that they feel most anxious about “being able to find employers willing to take on internships / new employees when they can hardly keep the staff they already have.” Several students also pointed out that businesses will be unlikely to expand their workforce for years, leaving many students to figure out on their own how best to start or build upon their resumes without access to entry-level positions.

For some students, career plans in specific fields have been derailed: one student, training to become a teacher, wrote that “credential programs are changing and the classes that require me to do in person hours are not possible. I am worried how it will affect my ability to have hands on learning and become a good teacher.” Even those in supposedly safe sectors, such as computer programming, fear that the pandemic will usher in permanent workplace changes that are far from ideal, with one student from Texas A&M University expressing concern that “jobs in computer science will go fully virtual, and I’m not sure that’s what I want for my career.”

For other students, the dual burden of managing both academics and struggles at home has begun taking its toll. A few students expressed that their greatest fear is their parents losing their jobs, especially if they depend on their parents to pay for schooling. Others wrote about distractions at home or dysfunctional home environments making it difficult to study. A graduate student from the University of Kansas revealed that if K-12 schools shut down over and over again, they’ll be forced to delay their own graduation to accommodate homeschooling their child. Many more students expressed concern for their friends, most of whom are either unable to find work or struggling to support themselves and their recently unemployed parents without sufficient government aid.

Academic Plans in Flux

Has the pandemic altered your academic plans? If so, how?

Shifting focus to academic plans, three themes consistently emerged throughout the survey responses: tough decisions regarding switching or dropping majors and minors, struggles with online learning environments, and concerns about a degraded ‘college experience.’ Feelings of disappointment or frustration were particularly striking amongst respondents.

Many students expressed the urge to switch or add majors and minors, with the goal of becoming more competitive in the job market. One freshman at UC Irvine admitted that they plan to “[change] my major to something more practical instead of something I would actually enjoy and do well in.” Another student, originally a biomedical engineering major at the University of Florida, recently switched to mechanical engineering because it has the “best job outlook” and will allow them to finally move away from home.

Then there are students who have had to drop majors or minors out of necessity, with one student writing that although they were considering staying an extra quarter to complete their minor, they now feel it would be a waste of money. On the flip side, another student from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign argued that the pandemic “has reinforced my decision to have a minor. This way I won’t be stuck in one industry and can look for jobs in industries that pertain to my major and minor.” Throughout the survey, fears surrounding becoming “stuck” — in a certain industry, particular job, or city — were salient.

For a large number of students, the shifts occurring on campus due to the pandemic have raised important questions about the value of an online education. Put by one West Virginia University student, many students are unhappy with paying full tuition “for some mere pre-recorded videos and lectures on zoom.” Those in art studio or lab classes wrote of their struggles to obtain supplies, direct instruction, or live examples from their professors, with one engineering major at Oklahoma State expressing frustration over how they are “not getting the quality education I pay thousands of dollars for…most of my classes this year are labs, which I can’t even use.” Similarly, another student argued that “social distancing, online learning, and even wearing masks really changes what we are able to learn in class. I worry that I’m missing out on important training simply due to these barriers.”

These concerns over the quality of online instruction have, as stated by one Mississippi State student, left many lower division students fearful that they’ll be unable to effectively learn information in prerequisite courses needed to do well in upper-division classes. One student recounted how their “academic performance [took] a dip when we switched to online classes. If it weren’t for the pass/fail system, my GPA would’ve tanked. I feel that I’ll continue to drop in performance the longer we stay online.” To cope with these changes, some students have decided to switch to majors they can more easily complete online, while others have had to rethink their studies entirely; one upperclassman disclosed how the process of dropping an online class required for their math degree “made me question my major and think about dropping it entirely.”

Some students have also decided to put off taking important classes because they fear they’ll underperform in an online setting, or because they simply crave in-person instruction. Others have had to create backup plans in the event that they fail multiple classes this upcoming term (mental health struggles were cited as one of the most common culprits). In many of the personal accounts students described, the possibility of having to delay graduation due to part-time status or altered course schedules constantly looms in the back of their minds.

Many students also complained that online courses are more difficult, in part because of the distractions that come from moving back home. One San Diego State student lamented “I can’t focus on studying without the library. It’s making me wonder if I can even continue going to school in the midst of the pandemic.” Another San Diego State student fears that they will be unable to graduate “because I relied heavily on peer cooperation to complete assignments, and now when I get stuck on stuff in my online classes I am just screwed over with no resources.” Many students are thinking of biting the bullet and taking a gap year or planned leave of absence rather than facing another term of online learning.

For those who cannot afford to extend their studies, pressure to finish their degrees and reduce the financial burden on their families is mounting. Some students expressed desires to transfer to colleges closer to home, or switch to community colleges. For one Rutgers student, the pandemic has meant that they “have chosen to transfer from a 4-year institution to a 2-year institution (reverse transfer) to complete a degree for a lower cost due to the economic hardships from the pandemic.”

Finally, many students also complained that the quality of the college experience itself has depreciated. As put by one CSU Sacramento student, “Because I can’t drop by professors’ offices to talk, I’m concerned about networking and references. I’m a box on Zoom, not a person.” Other students, unable to attend clubs and activities that will make an impact on their resume, mused about what the long-term consequences of reduced participation may be. For many students, an inability to attend workshops and look for on-campus research and internship opportunities have stripped away enthusiasm for their studies; put by one UC Davis undergraduate, “As a college student you feel powerless because you depend your daily life on college [and] it feels empty and non motivating during the pandemic.”

Post-Graduation Plans

Has the pandemic altered your post-graduation or internship plans? If so, how?

Most students expressed that the internship shortage has destroyed their confidence with regard to applying for graduate school or finding high-quality entry level positions. Many more complained that being dropped from the paid positions they were preparing for has forced them to look for any job or internship they can find, paid or unpaid. Some students are now looking at local jobs instead of jobs that would require physical relocation, while others have managed to find replacement internships at smaller companies with less pay and fewer benefits. Job and internship shortages, as well as the strain graduate programs have been put under, have left many students doubting whether they will be able to move out of their parents’ homes in the foreseeable future.

An upperclassman majoring in business detailed how they “have a friend attending UC Irvine for Computer Science [who] also cannot find ANY internship prospects despite coding being able to be completed remotely.” Another upperclassman at the University of Kentucky expressed that the cancellation of their summer internship “was a huge blow to me. I lost a lot of expected income, and also now have nothing to show for this summer for job/scholarship/grad school applications. I know only a handful of people who were actually still able to do something academically productive.” For some students, the desire to leave the United States altogether is intensifying. One Rutgers student wrote that “we have no idea how long the pandemic will last, or whether or not the US will think of a new way to screw things up. Even if I decided to stay in the US, I’m not sure if our own economy will be any good in a year or two.”

Even those who have managed to land a job still face a high degree of uncertainty, with many internships switching to a remote configuration that students fear will deprive them of vital hands-on experience. As put by one Brigham Young Student, “I luckily landed a job for next year. But I don’t know how it will be. Will I be doing it over the Internet? In person? Will my work value my safety?” Another student revealed that their internship had just been reduced to an 80 hour ‘learning experience,’ where they are now getting paid $5 less per hour and “will not be able to do actual work for the company.”

Those who plan to attend graduate school are also feeling the sting of the pandemic — namely anxiety about the possibility of reduced graduate school acceptance rates due to budget cuts, or accepted students deferring and consequently creating a bottleneck for those who plan on applying in the near future. For one student at the University of Chicago who has always planned on getting a PhD, the possibility of thousands of students flocking to graduate programs has left them wondering if it’s even worth it to enter into academic fields that were already brutally competitive and poorly funded.

A number of students admitted that the pandemic has made them consider going to graduate school even though they weren’t originally intending to; unsurprisingly, many of these resolutions were dispassionate. One student at the University of Manitoba stated, “I was planning to take a year off after my undergrad to travel/volunteer/work. Now I can’t really travel, or find a new job so I will apply to start grad school ASAP I guess;” similarly, a recent Iowa State graduate simply wrote “Wasn’t planning on going to grad school, but I guess that’s the move now.”

Those who were already planning on going to graduate and professional schools before the pandemic still intend to do so, yet with added fears that the potential restrictions imposed by the pandemic — for example, losing a spot in a research lab — will hurt their chances of getting in. A recent graduate who had intended to apply to medical school this fall shared that “the circumstances posed by COVID have required me to postpone my application timeline by one full year in order to obtain the experiences lost in the spring semester.”

Then there are students who wish they could go to graduate school to escape the recession, but currently feel unable to do so; for some respondents, an inability to earn money and save up for graduate school coupled with an inability to gain relevant research experience may prevent them from going to graduate school altogether. Finally, some students who are already in graduate school are now considering dropping out of their current programs. One student wrote “I am no longer pursuing a PhD and [am] instead pursuing a masters degree in a field that will make me qualified for a higher paying job.”

A Future Full of Uncertainty

Compared to how you felt about your professional/academic future before the pandemic, do you feel more anxious about your future now, or similar to how you felt before?

Overall, the vast majority of respondents reported feeling far more anxious in the aftermath of the pandemic. One student at Louisiana State articulated how jarring the transition from a pre-pandemic to post-pandemic economy has been, fearing that the worst is yet to come: “prior to the pandemic, everything was smooth sailing. Once it started, I’ve become doubtful about humanity’s survival. We really are in a situation that dire…I feel like the pandemic’s impact on the economy will ultimately affect my generation’s career futures in the job market. I’m honestly not so sure how things will play out. Things can get a lot worse from here, and we have no reason to believe they’ll get any better.” Another student at Oklahoma State noted how “things are getting more expensive and jobs are harder to come by. I don’t have insurance or sizable savings, so I can’t afford getting sick or going without a job for more than a couple months.”

For many students, the impact the pandemic has had on their social lives has been a great source of distress. As put by a senior at Michigan State, “I feel very anxious now. I am afraid I will be missing out not only on professional and academic opportunities, but some last social opportunities as well, given that it will be my last year this year. I am a very sentimental person, so this is really hard for me. It feels like everything has been taken away and there will be effects lasting years after the pandemic ends. Everything feels very uncertain.”

Other students have been forced to confront the possibility that they will simply be unable to follow their preferred career paths; one upperclassman who was already ‘quite anxious’ about their future, wrote “my biggest fear is that I will never actually be able to do what I want and become a writer, and with the job market being this sh*tty, it just makes that seem more unrealistic.”

Some students, aiming to reconcile their anxiety with the situation at hand, have resolved to try and adopt a come-what-may mindset. One Iowa State student, describing their own coping strategies, wrote “I will be a junior this year, so I don’t know how things will look in two years time but it has definitely made me more accepting of being flexible with what I want to do or where I end up. I have realized that moving back home for a year or two may not be so bad and I can save up money and then hopefully end up where I really want to be.” Throughout the survey students referenced plans to move back home, some begrudgingly and others welcomingly.

For a few students, the changes brought on by the pandemic have had a silver lining. For one student at the University of Florida, the pandemic has provided some much-needed clarity: “I originally wanted to drop out of my major for job stability but never had the guts to do it. Covid helped push me to switch majors because I had no other choice.” Another student at UC Riverside revealed that “Covid did do something weird for me (…) During spring quarter I hunkered down on schoolwork as I couldn’t distract myself with anything else and grew immensely interested in my major. Although the path will be a long and difficult one, due to COVID I decided to focus more of my attention on entering the academic field. Hope to one day become a professor and/or researcher.”

What The University Can Do To Help

What career and internship related services/resources do you wish the university would provide you?

Some respondents, when prompted with the question of how their university could help them, took the opportunity to vent their frustrations: “They are as lost as anyone else, they don’t know WTF is going on and their advice would probably be completely subjective,” one student wrote. “Most of the people working there have no idea what the youth is confronted [with] these days, they think “Happy” by Pharrel Williams is the ultimate friendship song and they don’t know how to put their facebook profile as private, what kind of career advice should I expect from those people?”

A number of students conveyed the anger they feel towards their universities for limiting their on-campus work hours without supplementing for lost income. As articulated by one upperclassman, students crave “any financial support instead of just charging us for facilities we can’t use and expecting us to pay the same for online education which is significantly less enriching than in person.” A few students also stressed the importance of having their university work out a way for undergraduates to continue working in labs and other in-person research facilities.

Other student responses were marked by a sense of defeat, with one upperclassman lamenting that “[The university] can’t provide anything if no businesses even WANT to provide internships right now. The school does not create the internship opportunities generally speaking, businesses seeking local talent do.” To rectify this issue, one University of Nevada Reno student suggested the creation of “internships at the school itself so students wouldn’t have to worry about finding an internship somewhere else and it getting cancelled because of a spike.”

Longing for a better coordinated university response was also communicated by several students. One student from Michigan State expressed their desire “to see a more unified approach to the pandemic as opposed to largely university-by-university decision making,” which could alleviate students’ concerns about meeting requirements for various graduate schools. Students also expressed their longing for more general support, such as greater assistance with securing internships or the elimination of certain graduate school requirements. One CSU Long Beach student recounted how they “have sat down with a couple counselors and they basically say just Google it.” Another student at San Diego State wrote about their wish for “[The University to] support us more mentally and financially. A lot of us lost our jobs and we’re struggling to get by. I wish they would be more flexible.”

Moving Forward

Although survey respondents were not randomly selected (all respondents were self-selected), we nonetheless believe this data provides a glimpse into the sentiments held by many students and recent graduates currently grappling with the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly all respondents — those working to chart a new course for their career, as well as those who are clinging to their original plans — reported feeling some degree of anxiety, hopelessness, or frustration spurred by the pandemic. For many students, these feelings were at least somewhat exacerbated by their university’s response to this crisis.

The exact nature of this problem is unclear. Data that uncovers not only broad trends in employment struggles amongst recent graduates, but which types of recent graduates are struggling and what those struggles precisely entail, is still being gathered. We cannot paint with a broad brush when describing the struggles of current students and recent graduates, struggles which undoubtedly vary between academic disciplines, degree levels, age groups, socioeconomic status, university prestige, and a host of other factors. It’s difficult to gauge how pervasive the feelings expressed in this survey actually are — based on anecdotal evidence from our own lives, we believe that they are pervasive, although the fact remains that survey respondents may represent a highly-stressed minority.

What does this mean, then? There is no one clear path forward, and we certainly don’t presume to know the answers. What we do know, however, is that from these 450 respondents we see signals of a more widespread problem, and these signals warrant further investigation. For those who are in a position to make choices that will impact the lives of current students and recent graduates, qualitative student data is more crucial now than ever before, as is creating a mechanism to directly engage with students and jointly workshop solutions the university will remain committed to upholding. To the students and recent graduates reading this article, continued engagement with administration will be vital moving forward. Consider starting a dialogue by sharing this data with your campus administrators, or think about collecting similar data from your own peers, coworkers, and classmates. Difficult times are ahead of us, and we each have a responsibility to support one another and make our fears, wishes, and needs known.

If you would like to learn more about this survey, please contact livmorris@ucdavis.edu or jumorris@ucdavis.edu.