During this time of fear and uncertainty, we want to provide colleges and universities answers—directly from students and from parents—to guide messaging, help applicants, and aid admissions departments across the country make measured decisions. We surveyed half a million fall 2020 prospects to learn how COVID-19 has changed their college decision-making process. Thus far, we have received nearly 7,000 responses from across the United States.
As we finish gathering the responses and build our report, we want to let you know that we are providing the results for free not just to our partners, but to all of higher ed, because we are in this together.
Below are some of the questions we asked of prospects, their parents, and transfers:
9 of 10 prospective students whose decision process has been impacted noted the inability to visit campus before making their decision, while 73% of students indicated that their rankings of preferred colleges and universities hadn’t changed
Globally, 15% of students indicated that they’re now considering staying closer to home, but this varies considerably by region and parent or student response.
With many high schools also moving to distance learning models, nearly 1 in 4 students have indicated they are having difficulty reaching counselors and other staff at their current school. 17% say the same about college representatives.