Classes in tents. Roommates assigned based on coronavirus antibody tests. Residences set aside for quarantined students. U.S. college life could look dramatically different when classes resume in the fall.
FILE PHOTO: Students take their seats for the diploma ceremony at the John F. Kennedy School of Government during the 361st Commencement Exercises at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts May 24, 2012. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Colleges emptied dormitories and moved classes online in March as the pandemic worsened — a decision that left many students clamoring for partial refunds.
Facing budget shortfalls, several colleges have said they are putting infrastructure investments on hold, freezing hiring, and furloughing employees.
Now, universities are exploring creative, once-implausible approaches to make sure students can return to campus in the 2020-2021 academic year.
“There will be changes for sure, but one way or another we are going to be open,” said James Herbert, president of the University of New England (UNE), a private college in Maine.
The selling point of residential colleges is campus life and the sense of community it fosters, said Brian Rosenberg, president of Macalester College in Minnesota.
When classes are online, private schools cannot make money from housing and dining services, and they