Covid and Higher Education Students in US – 51% of currently enrolled students report that COVID-19 is “very likely” or “likely” to impact their ability to complete their degree

Higher education has faced unprecedented challenges amidst COVID-19. Throughout 2020, many students have transitioned between in-person and remote learning as schools continue to navigate the pandemic. In the fall of 2020, Lumina Foundation and Gallup partnered to survey 2,064 students currently pursuing their associate degree and 3,941 pursuing their bachelor’s degree and assessed:

• How has COVID-19 changed the student experience?
• To what extent have changes resulting from COVID-19 impacted the quality of the student experience?
• How, if at all, will COVID-19 impact students’ ability to continue in their degree?

Executive Summary

1 Most students pursuing their associate (72%) or bachelor’s degree (76%) rate the quality of their education as “excellent” or “very good.”
2 Students attending classes in-person are more positive about the quality of their education than those in a fully online learning model.
3 Those who transitioned from in-person learning in the spring of 2020 to a fully online learning model in the fall of 2020 are driving lower quality-level ratings among online learners.
4 Students who transitioned from an in-person learning model in the spring of 2020 to fully online learning in the fall of 2020 are also faring worse in their wellbeing, are less likely to feel their professors care about them as a person and are less likely to have a mentor.
5 First-time students in the fall of 2020 are more positive than their peers about the quality of education they are receiving. These students are also less likely than their peers to say they have considered withdrawing from courses in the past six months.
6 About a third of all currently enrolled students say they have considered withdrawing from courses in the past six months. When asked why they have considered stopping classes, the most-cited reasons are COVID-19 and emotional stress.
7 About half of currently enrolled students report that COVID-19 is “very likely” or “likely” to impact their ability to complete their degree.
8 Black and Hispanic students are more likely than their White peers to say COVID-19 is “very likely” or “likely” to impact their ability to complete their degree.
9 Black and first-generation students — two student populations who historically have lower completion rates than their peers — are the
least likely to say their school offers many of the services designed to combat the impact of COVID-19 and other challenges, including mental health and financial services.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story @ State of the Student Experience: Fall 2020 Report | Gallup