The Coronavirus
- Thread starter otis
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[quote="panther2" post=385031]Just read a tweet from Jon Rothstein that Boston University may not open until January, 2021. It appears that Sports as we are used to may be put on hold for awhile.[/quote]
This is unfortunate, but likely a smart move.
We are reducing virus transmissions by staying home, but.....
Vaccine Developed -NO
Effective Treatment Found -NO
Ample Testing in Place -NO
If we go back to normal with no substantial medical advances, we could be headed right back to quarantine. The virus won't simply agree to back off.
This is unfortunate, but likely a smart move.
We are reducing virus transmissions by staying home, but.....
Vaccine Developed -NO
Effective Treatment Found -NO
Ample Testing in Place -NO
If we go back to normal with no substantial medical advances, we could be headed right back to quarantine. The virus won't simply agree to back off.
ronm
Well-known member
I would be very surprised if our season starts on time. I would not be at all surprised if it is canceled entirely absent the availability of a vaccine. Any sane person is not going to want to be seated shoulder to shoulder with others while the virus is still active. Unfortunately, this will no doubt apply to all sports and any large gathering.
I told my 114 buddies today and this is just one case so dont make judgement. My assistants aunt went to some hospital on SI. She is breast cancer survivor diabetes and asthma. She got cover and double phenomena. They sent her to Javitz with 5 day order of hydroxychloroquine Zpac and something else. day 1 couldn't text more than 1 word on phone. Day 3 or 4 walking around.. Either a miracle or the medicine. Not saying which but it's one of the 2
Everybody wants a 'cure' for this thing NOW, but it's not that simple. There are clinical trials and testing / retesting processes on major drugs for appropriate reasons.
Hydroxychloroquine may indeed be effective against COVID-19 and, if so. would call for a National--Global-Day of Celebration.
But we just dont' know. There are risks to taking this med, regardless of whether it's effecitive against '19' ...including death.
We should tests test test for 'vaccines' and to determine how prevalent this is in the public 'body' and we should social distance in the meantime.
Just my two cents.
See links below.
[URL]https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/13...coronavirus-treatment-trials-study/index.html[/URL]
[URL]https://www.washingtonpost.com...129d64-7dba-11ea-8013-1b6da0e4a2b7_story.html[/URL]
Hydroxychloroquine may indeed be effective against COVID-19 and, if so. would call for a National--Global-Day of Celebration.
But we just dont' know. There are risks to taking this med, regardless of whether it's effecitive against '19' ...including death.
We should tests test test for 'vaccines' and to determine how prevalent this is in the public 'body' and we should social distance in the meantime.
Just my two cents.
See links below.
[URL]https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/13...coronavirus-treatment-trials-study/index.html[/URL]
[URL]https://www.washingtonpost.com...129d64-7dba-11ea-8013-1b6da0e4a2b7_story.html[/URL]
Dealing with this daily and taking care of these patients. Hydroychloroquine is absolutely not a miracle drug. If it was there wouldn’t be thousands dying every day. Could it possible help the course? Still anecdotal and any studies out there are poor with little statistical significance if one were to judge these studies. It will take a vaccine to really stem this thing, or herd immunity and that will cost millions of lives around the world. The scary thing about this disease is the seeming “randomness” of whom it effects in a very serious way and those who are barely effected at all. We still don’t have any real good indicators on whether you are going to be the 35 year old healthy guy who progresses rapidly towards death or the 70 year old who only gets a mild cough and fever for a few days.
This thing is gonna be quite a haul and not just a few months. People have to have a bit of resolve and try to enjoy this planet in its current state and hopefully make it through the other side of things with their livelihoods, health and the like. Gotta keep positivity because there will come a time that it too will pass, but not a month or so into it.
This thing is gonna be quite a haul and not just a few months. People have to have a bit of resolve and try to enjoy this planet in its current state and hopefully make it through the other side of things with their livelihoods, health and the like. Gotta keep positivity because there will come a time that it too will pass, but not a month or so into it.
[quote="MCNPA" post=385055]Dealing with this daily and taking care of these patients. Hydroychloroquine is absolutely not a miracle drug. If it was there wouldn’t be thousands dying every day. Could it possible help the course? Still anecdotal and any studies out there are poor with little statistical significance if one were to judge these studies. It will take a vaccine to really stem this thing, or herd immunity and that will cost millions of lives around the world. The scary thing about this disease is the seeming “randomness” of whom it effects in a very serious way and those who are barely effected at all. We still don’t have any real good indicators on whether you are going to be the 35 year old healthy guy who progresses rapidly towards death or the 70 year old who only gets a mild cough and fever for a few days.
This thing is gonna be quite a haul and not just a few months. People have to have a bit of resolve and try to enjoy this planet in its current state and hopefully make it through the other side of things with their livelihoods, health and the like. Gotta keep positivity because there will come a time that it too will pass, but not a month or so into it.[/quote]
MCN, is there data on whether chloraquine drugs are contraindicated for anyone with possible sickle cell trait? Long ago MASH episode with Klinger becoming ill and lethargic immediately came to mind.
This thing is gonna be quite a haul and not just a few months. People have to have a bit of resolve and try to enjoy this planet in its current state and hopefully make it through the other side of things with their livelihoods, health and the like. Gotta keep positivity because there will come a time that it too will pass, but not a month or so into it.[/quote]
MCN, is there data on whether chloraquine drugs are contraindicated for anyone with possible sickle cell trait? Long ago MASH episode with Klinger becoming ill and lethargic immediately came to mind.
My son and his Model UN Team at Townsend Harris High School in Flushing are raising money to support Jamaica Hospital during this horrific time. If you would like to donate please see the attached link. The second link is a website with more information. Thank you in advance.
Townsend Harris will be sending the money directly to Jamaica Hospital and all donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Donation page:https://ed.co/teams/townsend-harris-high-school/covid-19-response-initiative-team-crit
Website:https://epark2705.wixsite.com/covid19fundraiser
Townsend Harris will be sending the money directly to Jamaica Hospital and all donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Donation page:https://ed.co/teams/townsend-harris-high-school/covid-19-response-initiative-team-crit
Website:https://epark2705.wixsite.com/covid19fundraiser
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Class of 72
Active member
Those of the younger generation will likely resume their lives earlier than the over 40 folks. Colleges should be prepared to test students for the virus by September and if the antibody test is widely available to use it for all incoming and returning students before dorms can be occupied. Those not cleared should be continued in distance learning until retesting is done.
ALL athletes will be tested as well as staff. I doubt sales of tickets will occur as the admission screening would be intolerable. There will be games in empty arenas that will be broadcast live with added cameras to simulate attendance feeling. Kind of a virtual reality game that kids are very accustomed to and we older survivors of the pandemic will spend the 20-21 season on the couch. New financial arrangements will be made with the networks to make this type of competition an attractive marketing strategy for advertisers trying to recapture young markets.
Finally, expect designer face masks with school logos to become a must have fashion item on campus.
When one door closes..........
ALL athletes will be tested as well as staff. I doubt sales of tickets will occur as the admission screening would be intolerable. There will be games in empty arenas that will be broadcast live with added cameras to simulate attendance feeling. Kind of a virtual reality game that kids are very accustomed to and we older survivors of the pandemic will spend the 20-21 season on the couch. New financial arrangements will be made with the networks to make this type of competition an attractive marketing strategy for advertisers trying to recapture young markets.
Finally, expect designer face masks with school logos to become a must have fashion item on campus.
When one door closes..........
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beast of the east
Active member
This pandemic bear bears witness to just how unpredictable life is. If anything it should be a shrill reminder that life is precious yet fragile, and that we are only here for a short while.
Petty arguments that escalate into full blown hurt and separation can often be resolved with a simple "I'm sorry. You are too important to me to continue this" whether you feel you are right or wrong.
The despair you may feel from isolation or loss of a loved one can be tempered by counterbalanced by reaching out to a friend, neighbor, or family member who may need your help. I have a friend who has been doing grocery shopping for elderly neighbors. Whatever you choose to do, I guarantee you the immediate reward will be the uplifting of your own spirits by knowing you have done a good thing. Mother Theresa once said if you are having difficulty praying do something good for someone, and your mind will be in a better frame to pray.
Reach out to old friends. Check in on family you normally aren't in touch with, especially elderly ones. I have been doing this, and perhaps the nicest thing was when my 94 year old and infirmed uncle called me the other night when he heard I wasn't feeling well.
Reach out to SJU. Mike Cragg is perhaps the warmest, most tech savvy AD we've ever had He is continually active on social media and responsive to all contacts. Let him know you care. Same for anyone else you know in the AD or at SJU. Congratulate Paul S. on the birth of his first child, a beautiful baby girl who arrived 2 weeks early. He's taken some heat on here and would appreciate it. Check in on Nick or Melissa. All are great people.
Reach out to fellow Redmen.com'ers, either publicly or privately to see how they are doing. Some of you have done that for me, and I've done it for others.
After all, We ARE St. John's, who may just be #1 in the rankings for the number of great people who have attended and root for our school
Petty arguments that escalate into full blown hurt and separation can often be resolved with a simple "I'm sorry. You are too important to me to continue this" whether you feel you are right or wrong.
The despair you may feel from isolation or loss of a loved one can be tempered by counterbalanced by reaching out to a friend, neighbor, or family member who may need your help. I have a friend who has been doing grocery shopping for elderly neighbors. Whatever you choose to do, I guarantee you the immediate reward will be the uplifting of your own spirits by knowing you have done a good thing. Mother Theresa once said if you are having difficulty praying do something good for someone, and your mind will be in a better frame to pray.
Reach out to old friends. Check in on family you normally aren't in touch with, especially elderly ones. I have been doing this, and perhaps the nicest thing was when my 94 year old and infirmed uncle called me the other night when he heard I wasn't feeling well.
Reach out to SJU. Mike Cragg is perhaps the warmest, most tech savvy AD we've ever had He is continually active on social media and responsive to all contacts. Let him know you care. Same for anyone else you know in the AD or at SJU. Congratulate Paul S. on the birth of his first child, a beautiful baby girl who arrived 2 weeks early. He's taken some heat on here and would appreciate it. Check in on Nick or Melissa. All are great people.
Reach out to fellow Redmen.com'ers, either publicly or privately to see how they are doing. Some of you have done that for me, and I've done it for others.
After all, We ARE St. John's, who may just be #1 in the rankings for the number of great people who have attended and root for our school
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[quote="fuchsia" post=385095][quote="MCNPA" post=385055]Dealing with this daily and taking care of these patients. Hydroychloroquine is absolutely not a miracle drug. If it was there wouldn’t be thousands dying every day. Could it possible help the course? Still anecdotal and any studies out there are poor with little statistical significance if one were to judge these studies. It will take a vaccine to really stem this thing, or herd immunity and that will cost millions of lives around the world. The scary thing about this disease is the seeming “randomness” of whom it effects in a very serious way and those who are barely effected at all. We still don’t have any real good indicators on whether you are going to be the 35 year old healthy guy who progresses rapidly towards death or the 70 year old who only gets a mild cough and fever for a few days.
This thing is gonna be quite a haul and not just a few months. People have to have a bit of resolve and try to enjoy this planet in its current state and hopefully make it through the other side of things with their livelihoods, health and the like. Gotta keep positivity because there will come a time that it too will pass, but not a month or so into it.[/quote]
MCN, is there data on whether chloraquine drugs are contraindicated for anyone with possible sickle cell trait? Long ago MASH episode with Klinger becoming ill and lethargic immediately came to mind.[/quote]
That’s quite and interesting one and had to look it up. Apparently small trials in Nigeria revealed a much higher level of chloroquine resistance in persons with sickle cell. I don’t know if it’s universally accepted data but it seems it’s not the hydroxychloroquine that is the problem rather the resistance associated with sickle cell rendering it ineffective.
On another note, it certainly has its own problems. It’s got side effects, even things like seizures Amongst other things and has a massively long half life of 540 hours so if you have an issue it’s not going away.
This thing is gonna be quite a haul and not just a few months. People have to have a bit of resolve and try to enjoy this planet in its current state and hopefully make it through the other side of things with their livelihoods, health and the like. Gotta keep positivity because there will come a time that it too will pass, but not a month or so into it.[/quote]
MCN, is there data on whether chloraquine drugs are contraindicated for anyone with possible sickle cell trait? Long ago MASH episode with Klinger becoming ill and lethargic immediately came to mind.[/quote]
That’s quite and interesting one and had to look it up. Apparently small trials in Nigeria revealed a much higher level of chloroquine resistance in persons with sickle cell. I don’t know if it’s universally accepted data but it seems it’s not the hydroxychloroquine that is the problem rather the resistance associated with sickle cell rendering it ineffective.
On another note, it certainly has its own problems. It’s got side effects, even things like seizures Amongst other things and has a massively long half life of 540 hours so if you have an issue it’s not going away.
Just received my 2nd Half School Property Tax Bill reminder. Still Fully due and payable by May 11. Pay late still a penalty. Needs state legislature or Governor to delay or waive late fees. Has not happened.
So no school for a month and probably rest of the year but out of work taxpayers can’t even get a delay. How long do you think we can hold on. Shameful.
So no school for a month and probably rest of the year but out of work taxpayers can’t even get a delay. How long do you think we can hold on. Shameful.
[quote="Beast of the East" post=385151]This pandemic bear bears witness to just how unpredictable life is. If anything it should be a shrill reminder of how life precious is, and that we are only here for a short while.
Petty arguments that escalate into full blown hurt and separation can often be resolved with a simple "I'm sorry. You are too important to me to continue this" whether you feel you are right or wrong.
The despair you may feel from isolation or loss of a loved one can be tempered by counterbalanced by reaching out to a friend, neighbor, or family member who may need your help. I have a friend who has been doing grocery shopping for elderly neighbors. Whatever you choose to do, I guarantee you the immediate reward will be the uplifting of your own spirits by knowing you have done a good thing. Mother Theresa once said if you are having difficulty praying do something good for someone, and your mind will be in a better frame to pray.
Reach out to old friends. Check in on family you normally aren't in touch with, especially elderly ones. I have been doing this, and perhaps the nicest thing was when my 94 year old and infirmed uncle called me the other night when he heard I wasn't feeling well.
Reach out to SJU. Mike Cragg is perhaps the warmest, most tech savvy AD we've ever had He is continually active on social media and responsive to all contacts. Let him know you care. Same for anyone else you know in the AD or at SJU. Congratulate Paul S. on the birth of his first child, a beautiful baby girl who arrived 2 weeks early. He's taken some heat on here and would appreciate it. Check in on Nick or Melissa. All are great people.
Reach out to fellow Redmen.com'ers, either publicly or privately to see how they are doing. Some of you have done that for me, and I've done it for others.
After all, We ARE St. John's, who may just be #1 in the rankings for the number of great people who have attended and root for our school[/quote]
Fantastic post Beast, one that should be read more than once.
I hope you are feeling better.
Petty arguments that escalate into full blown hurt and separation can often be resolved with a simple "I'm sorry. You are too important to me to continue this" whether you feel you are right or wrong.
The despair you may feel from isolation or loss of a loved one can be tempered by counterbalanced by reaching out to a friend, neighbor, or family member who may need your help. I have a friend who has been doing grocery shopping for elderly neighbors. Whatever you choose to do, I guarantee you the immediate reward will be the uplifting of your own spirits by knowing you have done a good thing. Mother Theresa once said if you are having difficulty praying do something good for someone, and your mind will be in a better frame to pray.
Reach out to old friends. Check in on family you normally aren't in touch with, especially elderly ones. I have been doing this, and perhaps the nicest thing was when my 94 year old and infirmed uncle called me the other night when he heard I wasn't feeling well.
Reach out to SJU. Mike Cragg is perhaps the warmest, most tech savvy AD we've ever had He is continually active on social media and responsive to all contacts. Let him know you care. Same for anyone else you know in the AD or at SJU. Congratulate Paul S. on the birth of his first child, a beautiful baby girl who arrived 2 weeks early. He's taken some heat on here and would appreciate it. Check in on Nick or Melissa. All are great people.
Reach out to fellow Redmen.com'ers, either publicly or privately to see how they are doing. Some of you have done that for me, and I've done it for others.
After all, We ARE St. John's, who may just be #1 in the rankings for the number of great people who have attended and root for our school[/quote]
Fantastic post Beast, one that should be read more than once.
I hope you are feeling better.
beast of the east
Active member
[quote="sjc88" post=385153]Just received my 2nd Half School Property Tax Bill reminder. Still Fully due and payable by May 11. Pay late still a penalty. Needs state legislature or Governor to delay or waive late fees. Has not happened.
So no school for a month and probably rest of the year but out of work taxpayers can’t even get a delay. How long do you think we can hold on. Shameful.[/quote]
There is school. It's all remote learning. Teachers are working full time and on payroll. Students have transitioned to home learning and are being given assignment and many using google classroom or other tools. Kids may not be in school but except for the cost of heating the buildings and other discretionary costs, everything from landscaping, to building maintenance, to staffing remain the same.
If you have a hardship, perhaps make a call.
Keep in mind that Congress just blocked a bill that would extend 250 billion of additional funds towards small businesses who employ 80% of Americans. This was blocked because they tried to get additional non related items tacked to specific targeted bills. My small company is ineligible for any government assistance under the affiliated entity rules of this $2.2 trillion bailout. We've yet to lay off, furlough, or reduce the hours of a single worker, but cannot do so on an unlimited basis. This exclusion of my company and those like it, who receive no funding whatsoever from affiliated entities could put thousands of small businesses and their employees in peril.
So no school for a month and probably rest of the year but out of work taxpayers can’t even get a delay. How long do you think we can hold on. Shameful.[/quote]
There is school. It's all remote learning. Teachers are working full time and on payroll. Students have transitioned to home learning and are being given assignment and many using google classroom or other tools. Kids may not be in school but except for the cost of heating the buildings and other discretionary costs, everything from landscaping, to building maintenance, to staffing remain the same.
If you have a hardship, perhaps make a call.
Keep in mind that Congress just blocked a bill that would extend 250 billion of additional funds towards small businesses who employ 80% of Americans. This was blocked because they tried to get additional non related items tacked to specific targeted bills. My small company is ineligible for any government assistance under the affiliated entity rules of this $2.2 trillion bailout. We've yet to lay off, furlough, or reduce the hours of a single worker, but cannot do so on an unlimited basis. This exclusion of my company and those like it, who receive no funding whatsoever from affiliated entities could put thousands of small businesses and their employees in peril.
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[quote="Beast of the East" post=385158][quote="sjc88" post=385153]Just received my 2nd Half School Property Tax Bill reminder. Still Fully due and payable by May 11. Pay late still a penalty. Needs state legislature or Governor to delay or waive late fees. Has not happened.
So no school for a month and probably rest of the year but out of work taxpayers can’t even get a delay. How long do you think we can hold on. Shameful.[/quote]
There is school. It's all remote learning. Teachers are working full time and on payroll. Students have transitioned to home learning and are being given assignment and many using google classroom or other tools. Kids may not be in school but except for the cost of heating the buildings and other discretionary costs, everything from landscaping, to building maintenance, to staffing remain the same.
If you have a hardship, perhaps make a call.
Keep in mind that Congress just blocked a bill that would extend 250 billion of additional funds towards small businesses who employ 80% of Americans. This was blocked because they tried to get additional non related items tacked to specific targeted bills. My small company is ineligible for any government assistance under the affiliated entity rules of this $2.2 trillion bailout. We've yet to lay off, furlough, or reduce the hours of a single worker, but cannot do so on an unlimited basis. This exclusion of my company and those like it, who receive no funding whatsoever from affiliated entities could put thousands of small businesses and their employees in peril.[/quote]
Congress only favors big business. It sucks because the bailouts go from the top and never make their way down to the backbone of this country.
So no school for a month and probably rest of the year but out of work taxpayers can’t even get a delay. How long do you think we can hold on. Shameful.[/quote]
There is school. It's all remote learning. Teachers are working full time and on payroll. Students have transitioned to home learning and are being given assignment and many using google classroom or other tools. Kids may not be in school but except for the cost of heating the buildings and other discretionary costs, everything from landscaping, to building maintenance, to staffing remain the same.
If you have a hardship, perhaps make a call.
Keep in mind that Congress just blocked a bill that would extend 250 billion of additional funds towards small businesses who employ 80% of Americans. This was blocked because they tried to get additional non related items tacked to specific targeted bills. My small company is ineligible for any government assistance under the affiliated entity rules of this $2.2 trillion bailout. We've yet to lay off, furlough, or reduce the hours of a single worker, but cannot do so on an unlimited basis. This exclusion of my company and those like it, who receive no funding whatsoever from affiliated entities could put thousands of small businesses and their employees in peril.[/quote]
Congress only favors big business. It sucks because the bailouts go from the top and never make their way down to the backbone of this country.
jerseyshorejohnny
Well-known member
New York Times / April 15
After Coronavirus, Colleges Worry: Will Students Come Back?
The pandemic has already cost universities millions of dollars. As they consider the possibility of remote classes into the fall, they’re worried about losing students, too.
For years, Claire McCarville dreamed of going to college in New York or Los Angeles, and was thrilled last month to get accepted to selective schools in both places. But earlier this month, she sent a $300 deposit to Arizona State University, a 15-minute drive from her home in Phoenix. “It made more sense,” she said, “in light of the virus.”
Across the country, students like Ms. McCarville are rethinking their choices in a world altered by the pandemic. And universities, concerned about the potential for shrinking enrollment and lost revenue, are making a wave of decisions in response that could profoundly alter the landscape of higher education for years to come.
Lucrative spring sports seasons have been canceled, room and board payments have been refunded, and students at some schools are demanding hefty tuition discounts for what they see as a lost spring term. Other revenue sources like study abroad programs and campus bookstores have dried up, and federal research funding is threatened.
Already, colleges have seen their endowments weakened, and worry that fund-raising efforts will founder even as many families need more financial aid. They also expect to lose international students, especially from Asia, because of travel restrictions and concerns about studying abroad. Foreign students, usually paying full tuition, represent a significant revenue source everywhere, from the Ivy League to community colleges.
Some institutions are projecting $100 million losses for the spring, and many are now bracing for an even bigger financial hit in the fall, when some are planning for the possibility of having to continue remote classes.
Administrators anticipate that students grappling with the financial and psychological impacts of the virus could choose to stay closer to home, go to less expensive schools, take a year off or not go to college at all. A higher education trade group has predicted a 15 percent drop in enrollment nationwide, amounting to a $23 billion revenue loss.
“The combination of fear for health and safety and the economic impact at the same time is one that I haven’t experienced, and I don’t think most university leaders have,” said Kent D. Syverud, the chancellor of Syracuse University.
“Will families choose to send their kids to college?” he wondered. “Will they choose to not send them or delay them? I just haven’t found anybody who has the best crystal ball to answer it.”
In mid-March, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the outlook for higher education from stable to negative, predicting that institutions with strong endowments and cash flow, like Harvard or Stanford, would weather the virus, while smaller ones would not.
But even wealthy universities have begun announcing austerity measures. Robert Zimmer, president of the University of Chicago, said in an April 7 email to staff that to buffer its losses, the university would freeze salaries, slow academic hiring, suspend discretionary spending and look for other budget cuts. The University of Pennsylvania announced similar measures, including a hiring freeze and a pause in new capital projects, on Monday.
“I think it’s a greater systemic shock” than either the financial crisis of 2008 or the terrorist attacks of 2001, said Susan Fitzgerald, a Moody’s analyst. “We don’t know how long it’s going to go on or the multiple impacts.”
Colby College, a liberal arts school in Maine, has taken a typical blow. Its endowment, a rainy-day fund that can also serve as a proxy for a college’s financial health, dropped to $770 million earlier this month from $900 million at the end of last year. (It has since partially rebounded to $803 million.) And like many colleges, Colby has had to refund room and board for students asked to leave campus.
It has been able to balance its budget through a hiring freeze and savings on travel and events. But, said David Greene, Colby’s president, “in the long run, that is not a winning strategy.”
Like other administrators, Mr. Greene is hoping to reopen with classes on campus, rather than online, even if it means deferring the start of the fall semester. “Our whole model of education and all of its power comes from close human interaction,” he said.
But he can only delay so long. “If we had to start in October instead of September, that is not a real problem for us,” he said. “If we had to start in November instead of September, that’s probably not a real problem. What if we started in January and went through August? That would be a very different kind of problem.”
Although Congress provided $14 billion for higher education in the $2 trillion rescue bill signed by President Trump last month, a large chunk of that, $6 billion, was in the form of emergency cash grants for students in financial distress.
The rest of the bailout amounts to just 1 percent of total university expenses. College presidents say that won’t be enough to protect some institutions from slashing staff and programs, cutting back scholarships or perhaps even going under. They are asking for at least $46.6 billion in aid, to be divided equally between institutions and students, in the next stimulus package.
There are some 4,000 two-year and four-year public and private colleges and universities in the United States, educating roughly 20 million students. They generated about $650 billion in revenues in 2016-17, and in some states, like California, Iowa and Maryland, they are the largest employers, according to the American Council on Education, a trade group.
The council predicted in an April 9 letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that college enrollment for the next academic year would drop by 15 percent, including 25 percent for international students from countries like China who often pay full tuition, helping universities meet their budgets and afford financial aid for Americans.
“The pandemic is striking during the height of the admissions process,” the letter said. “College and university leaders are fully expecting significant, potentially unparalleled, declines in enrollment, both from students who do not come back, and those who will never start.”
The spring is prime testing season for juniors applying to college in the fall. But dates for the SAT and ACT have been canceled, and Advanced Placement subject tests have been truncated.
In light of the turmoil caused by the pandemic, a growing number of schools, from the small but elite Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., to the massive University of California system, are suspending the requirement that students take the SAT or ACT test for admission, accelerating a national trend of making the tests optional.
David Coleman, the president of the College Board, which administers the SAT, said last week that he was preparing for “an at-home style solution” for testing if the national shutdowns continue, and the organization plans to make an announcement on Wednesday about the future of the SAT.
Many current students are dissatisfied with how the virus has changed the nature of college. To some, online classes and closed student centers, gyms and science labs don’t seem worth the high prices they’re paying. At places like the University of Chicago and Iowa State, students are petitioning their schools to cut tuition by as much as 50 percent for as long as the pandemic lasts.
So far, universities have resisted, saying they will try to increase financial aid instead — although declining endowments and donations could make that difficult. The University of Chicago announced Monday that it would keep tuition, housing and fees flat.
For most universities, the question of how prospective students will react remains the great unknown. Already, many colleges have moved the deadline for students to accept admission from May 1 to June 1. And some schools are considering whether they will need to push that even further.
Orientation day, said Richard Ekman, president of the Council of Independent Colleges, “is probably the first time you’re going to know who’s really going to show up. Then you’ve got to scramble to add faculty or fire faculty or shift faculty. A lot of things that would have been done in a considered way will now in all likelihood be done at the last minute.”
One group of students that could see a silver lining, said Hafeez Lakhani, a college admissions coach, is high school juniors. Despite disruptions to testing and the admissions process, it could be easier for them to get into their stretch schools or off the wait list if overall enrollment declines — especially for those who can afford to pay full tuition, if fewer international students apply to U.S. schools.
Small institutions like Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., are more vulnerable to financial setbacks than big ones. Hampshire’s president, Ed Wingenbach, has put together a working group that is considering shorter units of study that would allow students to cycle in and out of remote learning if the virus comes and goes.
“If we’re looking at remote learning in the fall,” he said, “I think it’s more likely students will take a gap year or semester, and that will have a different impact on revenue.”
Ms. McCarville, the student in Phoenix, said the coronavirus had made her more sensitive to price over marquee names, and to the value of being close to her family. Although her dream schools, Skidmore in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, offered her scholarships, tuition at Arizona State was cheaper, and the overall package was better.
In the past, that might not have mattered to her. But after the coronavirus, it does.
“I would rather go to the least expensive school possible,” Ms. McCarville said, “just so I minimize my debt when I enter the work force, and I’m not in over my head in a very uncertain situation.”
After Coronavirus, Colleges Worry: Will Students Come Back?
The pandemic has already cost universities millions of dollars. As they consider the possibility of remote classes into the fall, they’re worried about losing students, too.
For years, Claire McCarville dreamed of going to college in New York or Los Angeles, and was thrilled last month to get accepted to selective schools in both places. But earlier this month, she sent a $300 deposit to Arizona State University, a 15-minute drive from her home in Phoenix. “It made more sense,” she said, “in light of the virus.”
Across the country, students like Ms. McCarville are rethinking their choices in a world altered by the pandemic. And universities, concerned about the potential for shrinking enrollment and lost revenue, are making a wave of decisions in response that could profoundly alter the landscape of higher education for years to come.
Lucrative spring sports seasons have been canceled, room and board payments have been refunded, and students at some schools are demanding hefty tuition discounts for what they see as a lost spring term. Other revenue sources like study abroad programs and campus bookstores have dried up, and federal research funding is threatened.
Already, colleges have seen their endowments weakened, and worry that fund-raising efforts will founder even as many families need more financial aid. They also expect to lose international students, especially from Asia, because of travel restrictions and concerns about studying abroad. Foreign students, usually paying full tuition, represent a significant revenue source everywhere, from the Ivy League to community colleges.
Some institutions are projecting $100 million losses for the spring, and many are now bracing for an even bigger financial hit in the fall, when some are planning for the possibility of having to continue remote classes.
Administrators anticipate that students grappling with the financial and psychological impacts of the virus could choose to stay closer to home, go to less expensive schools, take a year off or not go to college at all. A higher education trade group has predicted a 15 percent drop in enrollment nationwide, amounting to a $23 billion revenue loss.
“The combination of fear for health and safety and the economic impact at the same time is one that I haven’t experienced, and I don’t think most university leaders have,” said Kent D. Syverud, the chancellor of Syracuse University.
“Will families choose to send their kids to college?” he wondered. “Will they choose to not send them or delay them? I just haven’t found anybody who has the best crystal ball to answer it.”
In mid-March, Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the outlook for higher education from stable to negative, predicting that institutions with strong endowments and cash flow, like Harvard or Stanford, would weather the virus, while smaller ones would not.
But even wealthy universities have begun announcing austerity measures. Robert Zimmer, president of the University of Chicago, said in an April 7 email to staff that to buffer its losses, the university would freeze salaries, slow academic hiring, suspend discretionary spending and look for other budget cuts. The University of Pennsylvania announced similar measures, including a hiring freeze and a pause in new capital projects, on Monday.
“I think it’s a greater systemic shock” than either the financial crisis of 2008 or the terrorist attacks of 2001, said Susan Fitzgerald, a Moody’s analyst. “We don’t know how long it’s going to go on or the multiple impacts.”
Colby College, a liberal arts school in Maine, has taken a typical blow. Its endowment, a rainy-day fund that can also serve as a proxy for a college’s financial health, dropped to $770 million earlier this month from $900 million at the end of last year. (It has since partially rebounded to $803 million.) And like many colleges, Colby has had to refund room and board for students asked to leave campus.
It has been able to balance its budget through a hiring freeze and savings on travel and events. But, said David Greene, Colby’s president, “in the long run, that is not a winning strategy.”
Like other administrators, Mr. Greene is hoping to reopen with classes on campus, rather than online, even if it means deferring the start of the fall semester. “Our whole model of education and all of its power comes from close human interaction,” he said.
But he can only delay so long. “If we had to start in October instead of September, that is not a real problem for us,” he said. “If we had to start in November instead of September, that’s probably not a real problem. What if we started in January and went through August? That would be a very different kind of problem.”
Although Congress provided $14 billion for higher education in the $2 trillion rescue bill signed by President Trump last month, a large chunk of that, $6 billion, was in the form of emergency cash grants for students in financial distress.
The rest of the bailout amounts to just 1 percent of total university expenses. College presidents say that won’t be enough to protect some institutions from slashing staff and programs, cutting back scholarships or perhaps even going under. They are asking for at least $46.6 billion in aid, to be divided equally between institutions and students, in the next stimulus package.
There are some 4,000 two-year and four-year public and private colleges and universities in the United States, educating roughly 20 million students. They generated about $650 billion in revenues in 2016-17, and in some states, like California, Iowa and Maryland, they are the largest employers, according to the American Council on Education, a trade group.
The council predicted in an April 9 letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that college enrollment for the next academic year would drop by 15 percent, including 25 percent for international students from countries like China who often pay full tuition, helping universities meet their budgets and afford financial aid for Americans.
“The pandemic is striking during the height of the admissions process,” the letter said. “College and university leaders are fully expecting significant, potentially unparalleled, declines in enrollment, both from students who do not come back, and those who will never start.”
The spring is prime testing season for juniors applying to college in the fall. But dates for the SAT and ACT have been canceled, and Advanced Placement subject tests have been truncated.
In light of the turmoil caused by the pandemic, a growing number of schools, from the small but elite Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., to the massive University of California system, are suspending the requirement that students take the SAT or ACT test for admission, accelerating a national trend of making the tests optional.
David Coleman, the president of the College Board, which administers the SAT, said last week that he was preparing for “an at-home style solution” for testing if the national shutdowns continue, and the organization plans to make an announcement on Wednesday about the future of the SAT.
Many current students are dissatisfied with how the virus has changed the nature of college. To some, online classes and closed student centers, gyms and science labs don’t seem worth the high prices they’re paying. At places like the University of Chicago and Iowa State, students are petitioning their schools to cut tuition by as much as 50 percent for as long as the pandemic lasts.
So far, universities have resisted, saying they will try to increase financial aid instead — although declining endowments and donations could make that difficult. The University of Chicago announced Monday that it would keep tuition, housing and fees flat.
For most universities, the question of how prospective students will react remains the great unknown. Already, many colleges have moved the deadline for students to accept admission from May 1 to June 1. And some schools are considering whether they will need to push that even further.
Orientation day, said Richard Ekman, president of the Council of Independent Colleges, “is probably the first time you’re going to know who’s really going to show up. Then you’ve got to scramble to add faculty or fire faculty or shift faculty. A lot of things that would have been done in a considered way will now in all likelihood be done at the last minute.”
One group of students that could see a silver lining, said Hafeez Lakhani, a college admissions coach, is high school juniors. Despite disruptions to testing and the admissions process, it could be easier for them to get into their stretch schools or off the wait list if overall enrollment declines — especially for those who can afford to pay full tuition, if fewer international students apply to U.S. schools.
Small institutions like Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., are more vulnerable to financial setbacks than big ones. Hampshire’s president, Ed Wingenbach, has put together a working group that is considering shorter units of study that would allow students to cycle in and out of remote learning if the virus comes and goes.
“If we’re looking at remote learning in the fall,” he said, “I think it’s more likely students will take a gap year or semester, and that will have a different impact on revenue.”
Ms. McCarville, the student in Phoenix, said the coronavirus had made her more sensitive to price over marquee names, and to the value of being close to her family. Although her dream schools, Skidmore in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, offered her scholarships, tuition at Arizona State was cheaper, and the overall package was better.
In the past, that might not have mattered to her. But after the coronavirus, it does.
“I would rather go to the least expensive school possible,” Ms. McCarville said, “just so I minimize my debt when I enter the work force, and I’m not in over my head in a very uncertain situation.”
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