Survey: Prospective Students Rethink the Fall

A new poll has found that high school seniors are rethinking whether they will enroll in college in the fall due to the novel coronavirus.

About one in six prospective students who are considering enrolling in four-year colleges are near the point of giving up on attending in the fall, according to an Art and Science Group survey that received roughly 500 responses. About 17 percent of respondents said they are likely to change their college plans and instead take a gap year next year or attend a program part-time.

Two-thirds of graduating seniors are concerned they will have to change their first-choice college due to the pandemic. About 21 percent said their families may no longer be able to afford their first-choice college because of the recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

But the global health crisis might also be changing students' perspective of online learning. Nearly half of the respondents said that, because of the coronavirus, they are more interested in taking an online program or course during their higher education experience.