Many colleges are welcoming students back for in-person learning and dormitory living this fall semester. Looming over everything: Campuses could shut back down anytime.
With COVID-19 cases still high, many colleges are developing shutdown contingency plans alongside their reopening arrangements.
At the same time, the pandemic is fueling new debate about whether colleges should charge the same tuition for online and in-person classes. Tuition typically covers the cost of instruction — salaries, software, labs and such — and that cost at many schools may have increased.
Here's what students can expect as the fall shapes up:
1. Some schools have cut tuition, but tuition decreases and additional aid aren't the norm.
"If I had to make bets, I would say a lot of colleges will be [freezing tuition] until they get a better sense of the economy," said Arun Ponnusamy, chief academic officer at the college admissions and application counseling company Collegewise.
2. Many colleges aren't publicizing their shutdown contingency plans — or how refunds will work. But students can look to how their school handled refunds in the spring to gauge how fall might play out.
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University gave refunds for on-campus housing and meal plans, for example, while other colleges also offered direct refunds for students. But some colleges opted for account credit instead.
