Last year, campus-wide shutdowns resulted in financial reimbursement for students and employee furloughs at higher education institutions across the country.
To provide support, the federal government passed several relief packages including the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
But even as colleges and universities plan to reopen their campuses for in-person learning, the economic effects of COVID-19 will continue to linger.
Over the next five years, revenue loss is projected to reach between $70 billion and $115 billion with 80% of institutions impacted. Public colleges, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and institutions with less than 1,000 students are predicted to be the hardest hit, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
“As we emerge from this pandemic, I want to call on federal and state governments — and American society — to recommit to public postsecondary education, which remains the indispensable tool for economic and social mobility and to educating our citizenry,” said Dr. Patrick T. Harker, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Fed and the former president of the University of Delaware. “Higher education is an industry. But it is also a public good.”
To further understand the economic and overall impact of the pandemic, the Philadelphia Fed hosted a virtual webinar on Wednesday titled, “Symposium on Institutions of Higher Education: Financial Viability and COVID-19.
While transition to online learning created cost advantages for colleges and universities, how did the pivot impact students’ learning?
