Amidst Rising COVID-19 Cases, Higher Education’s Future Remains Uncertain

Graphic by James Gocke

The United States has entered a deadly new stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, hitting record highs in confirmed new cases this past week. Colleges are not immune to the spread of the disease. The New York Times has been tracking cases among some colleges and universities, reporting on Nov. 19 that over 68,000 cases had been reported among colleges since early November.

But The New York Times tracker is incomplete. It tracks only information from public institutions and private colleges that compete in NCAA sports. Their tracker is limited to listing total cases since the pandemic began, as the data is not advanced enough to represent active cases on the campuses the Times has surveyed. The inaccuracy is a result of the widely varied response to the pandemic among colleges and universities both in the way classes are conducted and in how cases will be tracked and reported.

It’s no real surprise that different responses produce different outcomes. The Times tracker reports some colleges have been better at containing the pandemic in the first few months of the semester than others. Yet no matter how hard some institutions may try to keep the disease at bay, the rise of cases around the country is likely to have an impact. Since Nov. 19—the last day the Times updated their college case tracker— there have been over 1 million new cases nationwide according to COVID Tracking Project data. Since the beginning of the month, there have been over 3 million new positive cases.

At least one state has imposed statewide shutdowns of colleges, as Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services announced on Nov. 15 that the state would begin a three-week suspension of in-person college classes amidst other restrictions. On Nov. 17, Pennsylvania’s Health Secretary recommended that colleges and universities enact testing protocols on campus for students returning from holiday travel. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Nov. 18 that New York City public schools would close immediately due to a 3 percent positivity rate being reached in the seven-day rolling average. No restrictions have been announced on college campuses in New York, but the closure of public schools suggests the increasing possibility of further restrictions.

The King’s College has imposed no new restrictions, but President Tim Gibson urged students to stay vigilant in their observation of college policy. 

“It is more important now than ever before to rigorously abide by campus policies, specifically social distancing and wearing masks on campus at all times and in your off-campus interactions with those outside your family unit,” Gibson wrote in an email addressed to students on Nov. 18. 

Gibson’s email encouraged students to get tested before departing for Thanksgiving and to follow state testing guidelines upon returning to New York City. Current guidelines require a 14-day quarantine or a four-day quarantine accompanied by two negative COVID tests.

Before last week’s spring semester enrollment, King’s also announced that remote-learning would continue to be an option for students.

As it has so often been during the COVID-19 pandemic, the only thing that is certain about the future is uncertainty. Faced with the reality of a new wave, colleges may have to adjust course for the remainder of the year, whether it be by choice or by new government-imposed restrictions.