How will the pandemic transform college as we know it?

As the uncertainty about the pandemic’s impact on the future of college continues to unfold, there is a wide range of speculation, starting with school this fall. Should colleges plan for an online fall, delay the whole semester, or just plan for a regular semester?

Should social distancing be enforced by individual states, there could be a potpourri of fall openings. Such measures for a successful fall opening would involve getting students, faculty, and staff tested, reducing the number of students per class, integrating rotating schedules, offering a hybrid of online and in-person classes; the list goes on and on.

But underneath all of the operational questions for each college lies the financial question. What is the financial health of the college? Even though no one was prepared for anything like the pandemic, some colleges will be hit harder than others. That's because of three factors: