Study: Politics influences college reopening plans

In one of the more unsurprising discoveries, a study conducted by Davidson College found that it could predict whether a college re-opened its campus to in-person classes or not. Inside Higher Ed reported that the College Crisis Initiative’s study was a joint study partnered with software and consulting firm Ad Astra.

After analyzing 3,500 institutions, the study found that if Trump won a state in the 2016 election, colleges were more likely to re-open with in-person classes. The same could be said if a state had a Republican governor and a Republican-majority state legislature. If a college had all three conditions, the study said it was more likely for a college to re-open with in-person classes.

If a college was located in a state with a Democratic governor and Democrat-majority state legislature, the college would more likely re-open with virtual and online instructions.

Also, if the college was a large institution, it would most likely re-open classes online.

Although the country’s economy is showing signs of recovery, though consumer and business confidence remains hesitant, colleges and universities need to operate and re-open in order to survive post-pandemic. Whether a college re-opens in-person classes or online, students cannot afford to lose a year’s worth of learning and suffer a career setback with the increasing amount of student loan debt that they are accumulating. It goes without saying that college tuition rates have spiraled out-of-control and the pandemic exacerbated the student loan debt crisis.

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