Paying for college is one of the biggest expenses many families have, and this year, parents and students are wondering if it’s worth it, with so much uncertain due to COVID-19.

The deadline to write those big checks is here, and many schools are still working out details of how many classes, if any, will be in-person, online, or a mix of the two.

“It is very stressful,” Karen Rocher of Wexford said. She’s the mother of two college-age students and also happens to be a college admissions coach, who helps students get into their dream schools.

“Usually getting into college and making that final decision is the hardest part, but not this summer,” she said.

Summer of COVID

Rocher’s 20-year-old son, Rhys, is proud to be heading into his junior year at Wake Forest and wants to go back this fall, but worries that his college experience will be greatly diminished.

"It's a big year for me going into my junior year of college, and now, no one really knows what's going to happen," he said.

His 18-year-old sister, Sedona, is excited that she was accepted as a freshman at Lehigh University, but that excitement is tempered by the uncertainty of how COVID will impact campus life.

"I think it's just overwhelmingly stressful, but it's just hard to think about," Sedona said.

Both Rhys and Sedona’s colleges are planning for hybrid models this fall, with some in-person and some online classes.

"This is not the college experience we wanted," mom said.

Fall Reopening Plans

One thing is certain—the college experience will be very different this fall. Here in Pittsburgh, many schools say they are opting for hybrid models, including:

University of Pittsburgh (main campus)

Carnegie Mellon University

Duquesne University

Point Park University

Carlow University

But even with details being released, all schools are indicating their plans could change at any time—based on the COVID situation.

Nationwide, the Chronicle for Higher Education is tracking re-entry plans for nearly 3000 institutions in a joint project with Davidson College. Their latest numbers show about 40% of universities are planning for all or some in-person classes, 28% are planning for all or primarily online classes, and another 33% are yet to be announced or ‘other.’

Click here for The Chronicle re-entry tracker, then scroll down to search for your school.

Is it worth it?

As a college admissions coach, in addition to being a mom to college-age kids, Rocher certainly knows the value of college education, but this year, she’s not so sure it’s worth it.

“Four out of five classes (potentially) are online, yet there’s no tuition reduction,” she said. “We’re not getting a return on our money. It’s not what we signed up for when we applied to these schools.”

Her son and daughter are also worried.

“All the cultural aspects and all the friendships you get to make over college are going to be more difficult now,” said Rhys, the junior at Wake Forest.

“It’s gonna be hard. I think a lot of people are going to be alone a lot, eating alone, doing your classes alone, your homework alone,” Sedona, incoming freshman at Lehigh, agreed.

Making matters worse, many schools are not reducing their hefty tuition, and some are even daring to increase it, despite the drastic reduction in services. Rocher says that is angering many parents.

“They’re frustrated. They’re mad it costs so much since so much is online,” she said.

What can you do?

Karen recommends complaining politely and asking for more financial aid—especially if you’re facing hardship due to coronavirus.

“If there’s a change in the numbers. If you’ve lost your job, you’ve lost your income, you own your own business, you’ve had to shutter—tell them,” she said. “What you would say is, ‘It’s out of our reach in the circumstance we’re in right now. Can you help us? Can you look at it again?’”

Even if you can get more aid, it’s still not an easy decision—not only because of cost, but also the threat of a COVID on campus.

“I wouldn’t write that big check until I was sure,” Rocher said. “For our family, my freshman may not go. She may take the semester off.”

Some parents have found success in complaining. Lehigh originally announced a tuition increase in the spring, but got such a backlash from parents that it rolled that back. Duke University also announced recently it is rolling back its proposed tuition increase. And Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., announced last month it was moving all classes to online and cut tuition by 10%.

Know your options

It’s important to know your options. Here are questions to ask your student’s college:

• Can your students take a gap semester? If they defer, will you save their spot for January, the summer session or next year?
• If you have a hybrid model, what percent of classes will be online?
• If all classes go online, like they did in the spring, what is the refund policy?

No matter what, this is not an easy decision.

“Right now, I’m leaning toward staying home for the semester, but I honestly go back and forth on it almost every day,” Sedona said.

Full in-person learning could be scrapped in Bethel Park School District

Cox Media Group