Colleges and universities are asking congressional leaders to appropriate $120 billion toward higher education to offset “massive new expenses” because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“The situation currently facing America’s colleges and universities is a crisis of almost unimaginable magnitude,” said a letter signed by Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, on behalf of dozens of higher education groups. “Colleges and universities have already pushed their financial capacities to the limits in addressing this crisis.”

Mitchell described the efforts by colleges and universities to adapt to the crisis as Herculean “… so that we can educate our students safely, conduct critical research, protect our workforces and support our communities.”

But the protracted health crisis has increased costs above expectations, he wrote.

“These efforts have been consistently hampered by the shifting public health situation and, most importantly, by a significant decline in the resources available to institutions coupled with the massive new expenses campuses are incurring,” he wrote.

Those expenses include moving classes online and adopting new techniques and technology. Keeping the campus community at safe distance from one another requires additional space and costs. Personal protection equipment (PPE) also has added to college and university budgets.

Lack of a unified approach

In addition to testing wastewater to assess the rate of COVID-19 infection and detect outbreaks, many schools have been testing their students for the coronavirus regularly to try to keep the infection rate down.

“In July, our institutions anticipated spending an average of $3,791,678 on testing costs,” he wrote. “Now, well into the 2020-2021 academic year, campuses are reporting spending $9,362,967 on average, or nearly three times that amount.”

The cost of regular and repeated testing has been complicated “by the lack of consistent and comprehensive national testing policies,” Mitchell wrote.

The lack of a unified approach was evidenced on campuses last March and April, as many schools moved classes online. Many schools asked students to return home, then come back to retrieve their things, then asked to return home.

Students and families pushed back, asking for discounts because of reduced services. Other revenue was lost as sports and other events were canceled.

Many international students, who typically pay full tuition and fees for higher education in the U.S., deferred their enrollments in the 2020-21 academic year, further adding to the financial toll on colleges and universities. The pandemic arrived after three years of declining international student enrollment tied to costs, immigration barriers and perceived chaos in American society.

In the school year that began four months ago, new enrollment of international students dropped 43% because of the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly 40,000 students — mostly incoming freshmen — deferred enrollment to a future term at 90% of U.S. institutions, according to a survey released in November by nearly a dozen major higher education organizations.

The letter by the higher education groups, released Thursday, said federal support from the CARES Act “was vital to keeping students enrolled and colleges running in the spring,” but financial stress has grown and the impact of the global pandemic far exceeds the industry’s predictions.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act that was passed March 27 provided $14.25 billion for emergency relief to institutions of higher education. Half of those funds were required to go to students as emergency aid.

Little hope for a quick rebound

Mitchell cited a study by the American College Health Association and the Healthy Minds Network in which more than 63% of college students said they experienced financial losses directly or within their families because of the pandemic.

He pointed, too, to research in the Journal of Public Economics in November that found “lower-income students are 55% more likely than their higher-income peers to have delayed graduation due to COVID-19.”

Working students, the research said, saw a 31% decrease in wages and a 37% drop in weekly hours worked, on average.

“Moreover, around 40% of students lost a job, internship, or a job offer, and 61% reported to have a family member that experienced a reduction in income,” he wrote.

Enrollment of all freshmen students at all institutions has dropped 13%, and nearly 19% at community colleges, including “a concentration of losses on Black and Latino males,” Mitchell wrote. Black student enrollment declined by 8%, the letter to Congress said.

“There is little hope for a quick rebound, as next year looks to be even worse based on initial data,” Mitchell concluded.

Since the pandemic began, there have been more than 321,000 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, on college campuses and at least 80 deaths, according to New York Times data from more than 1,900 U.S. colleges and universities.

In The Student Life, the student newspaper for the Claremont Colleges, a consortium of five liberal art colleges and two graduate schools in Claremont, California, student Rochelle Lu writes about readjusting to her Shanghai home after spending a semester in the United States.

Read the full story here.

Cedarville University in the U.S. state of Ohio says it’s got more than 140 international students representing 44 countries.

Here, the school interviews Jonathan Sutton, director of international student services. He talks about his job and the opportunities for international students on campus.

Read the full article here.

Morehouse College, a private, historically Black liberal arts college in the U.S. state of Georgia, offers a guide for international students interested in attending the school.

Among the tips to apply and thrive at Morehouse:

• Take advantage of the school’s orientation program
• Turn to the school’s Center for Academic Success for tutoring, support and more
• Immerse yourself in campus life via clubs and societies

Read the full article here.

The administration of President Donald Trump said on Monday it will review Columbia University's federal contracts and grants over allegations of antisemitism, which it says the educational institution has shown inaction in tackling.

Rights advocates note rising antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias since U.S. ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza began after Palestinian Hamas militants' deadly October 2023 attack.

The Justice Department said a month ago it formed a task force to fight antisemitism. The U.S. Departments of Health and Education and the General Services Administration jointly made the review announcement on Monday.

"The Federal Government's Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is considering Stop Work Orders for $51.4 million in contracts between Columbia University and the Federal Government," the joint statement said.

The agencies said no contracting actions had been taken yet.

"The task force will also conduct a comprehensive review of the more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia University."

The agencies did not respond to requests for comment on whether there were similar reviews over allegations of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias.

Columbia had no immediate comment. It previously said it made efforts to tackle antisemitism.

College protests

Trump has signed an executive order to combat antisemitism and pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests.

Columbia was at the center of college protests in which demonstrators demanded an end to U.S. support for Israel due to the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's assault on Gaza. There were allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia in protests and counter-protests.

During last summer's demonstrations around the country, classes were canceled, some university administrators resigned and student protesters were suspended and arrested.

While the intensity of protests has decreased in recent months, there were some demonstrations last week in New York after the expulsion of two students at Columbia University-affiliated Barnard College and after New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the removal of a Palestinian studies job listing at Hunter College.

A third student at Barnard College has since been expelled, this one related to the occupation of the Hamilton Hall building at Columbia last year.