Occupants of the White House can change whenever an election occurs. Regardless of whether a presidential administration is Democrat or Republican, its members tend to focus on many of the same issues that characterize the sphere of higher education. Now that President Biden’s team is firmly established at the U.S. Department of Education, an effort will be made not only to undo various policies implemented during the Trump administration, but also to place greater emphasis on topics which it perceives as being essential.
Efforts to make changes will include altering Title IX regulations installed by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos regarding sexual misconduct at schools and colleges. Another topic that has attracted an increased amount of attention in recent months in various states is the issue of transgender students and their desire to play scholastic sports on women's teams. For-profit colleges’ policies also will come under review since the previous administration either scaled back or eliminated rules involving “gainful employment” regulations that were formulated during the Obama administration.
Mandatory Requirements Involving Vaccinations And Mask Wearing
Many colleges and universities around the nation are faced with the more immediate task of deciding which safety policies need to be in place as students return to campus this coming fall. The kinds of questions posed by academic administrators include whether to require or just recommend that students be vaccinated. Related matters entail which vaccines have been fully approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Compared to individuals age 65 and older, college age students are at less risk of: being infected by the coronavirus, experiencing deadly symptoms if they do contract the disease, and spreading it after becoming infected. A debatable proposition advanced by some critics of vaccination policy is whether any student who already has antibodies from COVID-19 should be vaccinated at all.
Beginning with the appearance of this disease, individuals of all ages were required to wear masks. Campus administrators have to decide which procedure to mandate. Current guidance from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention stipulate that wearing masks is optional only for individuals who are fully vaccinated. Part of the uncertainty is whether to require that masks be worn indoors or should the same restriction apply to outdoors on campus? A related consideration is whether football stadiums be open to fans who can fill every available seat or should the number be limited because of social distance policies?
International And Domestic Student Enrollment Trends
The Institute of International Education on June 10, 2021 released the findings of its fourth survey in the organization’s COVID-19 Snapshot Survey Series, examining the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on international educational exchange to and from the United States. The new survey data find that U.S. institutions are focusing on bringing students back to campus, with 86% planning some type of in-person study in fall 2021. None of the reporting institutions intends to offer virtual instruction only. Mirroring this finding, 90% of institutions plan to offer in-person study to international students. For that group, applications are up 43% for the 2021-2022 academic year, almost double the increases reported one year ago by institutions.
Meanwhile, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center provided a final tally of the enrollment decline in higher education experienced during the spring term of 2021. Total college enrollment declined 3.5% percent from a year earlier, a shortfall of 603,000 students, which is seven times worse than the reduction one year earlier. Male student enrollment was down 5.5%, or 400,000 students, from a year ago compared with a drop of only 2%, for women, or 203,000 students. Although enrollment fell in almost every undergraduate major tracked by the research center, psychology, and computer and information science were among the few bright spots at four-year institutions. Enrollment in those majors was up 4.8% percent and 3%, respectively, from a year ago.