The pandemic has created an experience “unlike any other” for college freshmen. 

The pandemic has created an experience “unlike any other” for college freshmen. YPulse’s Education report found that 64% of college students say COVID has changed their plans. For incoming college freshmen in 2020, their first year looked vastly different: Most schools moved online (which some students had a hard time adjusting to initially), students chose to take a gap year or defer, and those who were able to go to campus could only participate in limited in-person activities. According to data from the National Student Clearinghouse, undergraduate enrollment this fall declined by 3.6% from last year. That’s more than 560K students and twice the rate of enrollment decline seen in 2019. Most of that decline happened at community colleges, where enrollment fell by more than 10%, or more than 544K students. (The Washington Post, NPR)