High school graduations have been different this year with drive-thru diploma delivery or multiple graduation ceremonies. And – now those same students are faced with, what will happen with my college plans? Am I going to be able to go away to school? If my school does offer on-campus classes, is it the school that I want to attend? Are the costs of school going to be different if I cannot attend classes on campus? Am I motivated and do I feel that I have the skills to do online classes?
For parents who this is there 2nd or 3rd child going through college, you need to realize what held true for your previous children may not be what is true for this one. The college experience may be totally different – the amount of financial aid they receive, class sizes, access to professors, the social aspect, and many other factors. Parents and students must be proactive in asking questions and not assume what they know from experience will continue to hold true.
The first major decision – the school choice. Back in January or February, the student may have been accepted or denied at several schools. Did they get into their top choice? If not, and there still is a desire to go to that institution, it might be worth the effort to contact that school again. Many individuals who previously accepted are opting out for a year, are choosing to stay closer to home, or are now reversing their decision. That might mean your child could now get into the school even if they were previously denied.
If your child did get into the school of their choice, is it still a good choice for them? If classes are to be conducted online, does this still make it a good option? While in high school, there were always teachers to remind kids to do their homework, take attendance, and generally keep on track. Is your student self-motivated enough to do that on their own? Will they be able to create a schedule and stick with it? If they must live at home anyways, maybe it makes more sense to attend the local community college and save on tuition costs for the first year. Even attending the local community college online may be a better financial choice for lower tuition while living at home.
For some students, it may make sense to delay entrance for a year. The idea of a “gap year” may improve the chance of success in later years. Delaying college may help financially if that year is spent accumulating savings to have funds for the return to college.
For students who have taken to online learning, it may be a chance to get into a college they otherwise could not have gotten into. It may be a chance to take more classes each semester to graduate earlier since you will be home and not have as many distractions as living on campus.
If your child was accepted to a particular institution, still wants to attend, and your financial situation has changed as a result of COVID-19, consider contacting the school. Financial aid packages can be re-negotiated because of a change in circumstances. Many colleges are finding themselves with declining enrollments because of students deciding to take that “gap year”, choosing to go online schools, or for whatever reason not attending that college. Some colleges are willing to re-negotiate financial aid packages to keep students attending.
Be in contact with the college regularly. You want to know their decision as soon as possible if they are returning to on-campus classes in the fall. You need to understand if there will not be on-campus classes, what does that mean to your bill? Housing and meal plans will not need to be paid. Tuition will be due. What about all the fees – do you have to pay the athletic fee or the lab fees? We often see ten or twelve different fees on a tuition bill that can add up to be almost equivalent to the tuition itself. You want to be able to minimize student loans by understanding what the cost is going to be.
If there are going to be on-campus classes, what are the local laws related to COVID and will the college be enforcing them? Will they be decreasing class sizes to accommodate social distancing? What will the policy be regarding wearing face masks – in the classroom, in housing, while in public campus areas? Is your student prepared to follow these rules even if they do not agree with them? Are you, as a parent, comfortable with college’s policies related to protection?
As I write this, COVID cases are significantly increasing in many states. Many colleges may choose to start the semester with on-campus classes and need to close if stay-at-home orders begin being issued again. When this happened in the Spring, what was the colleges’ response? Did they reimburse part of the housing and meal costs? Did they go to online classes with little interruption to students? What is the access to professors for students who need more help?
The key here is to get informed. You need to understand what the expectations are and make sure that you can live with them. The cost of college is daunting for so many families. Students going away for the first time increases stress under normal living conditions for many. The current COVID event adds another layer of stress on top of all the stresses frequently experienced when a child goes off to school.
Incurring a significant financial burden through taking out student or parental loans, liquidating savings accounts, making installment payments, or “using up” education credits without considering the impact of the current situation can have long-lasting detrimental effects. You need to understand who your child is and what they feel they can handle. Do they feel capable of being away from home for the first time and/or self-motivated enough to handle an online class schedule with the added burden of COVID stress?
The standard path of graduating from high school and going off to college may not be the most appropriate option in the current environment. Considering a “gap year”, at-home school for a year – either in a local community college or online or even part-time school, part-time work may be a better short-term solution to lead to long-term success.