…Right this Very Minute!
Okay, okay. I confess- I like my holidays in order- fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, then Christmas. Then came 2020.
That went out the window this year for me. During the first cold snap this fall, I was thinking about Christmas. I admit to scrounging in the Christmas collection in the attic/garage before turkey day. I started eyeballing an outside, lit, backyard all-weather Christmas tree. Instead, I put up an old lighted garland on the front porch by re-routing the wiring connection. Dad would be proud. I want light this winter and a lot of it!
Maybe the famous Christmas song chorus has it right this year; “Well, we need a little Christmas, right this very minute!” I need the hope, the joy, the happiness, and the sleigh-full of Christmas sounds blasting my ears to lift my Covid-weary heart!
In a rough and desperate year of education upheaval, are there any signs of hope or light? Yes, there are. Recently, I rode by an elementary school where their entrance sign read, “Welcome back again”. While a reminder of the on-again-off-again scenario, one day that will come down. Here are some other things I find hopeful.
You ARE paying attention like never before. The automated assembly line mindset of “Gotta go to college no matter what” is crumbling. This pandemic woke us up and, I can prove it. ONE in SEVEN freshmen took this fall/spring as a gap year. That is unprecedented. If your student is still in high school, you learned to learn remotely. This is huge because it is proof your student can do college differently and save you tons of money. It proves there is another way that is worth considering.
This pandemic disrupted AND revealed all the problems with colleges/universities. I’ve detailed them earlier, but here are the top contenders- professors/instructors who cannot/will not adapt to new ways of teaching; full-time tuition being charged for the delivery of a less than “all-college experience.”; disrupted family finances forcing parents to look at other options seriously. In other words, oops. When this passes, some schools will re-open to find their constituency has scattered and will never return. Other schools are already reinventing themselves to survive AND thrive.
Generation Z WILL take this break and re-define the college experience and costs. They have seen their older siblings pile on the education debt and the hard, hard years of repayment that follow. They are more open to alternatives than any other generation before them. They, not their older Millennial siblings, will change the course of higher education and protect their own finances.
Schools will be forced to re-define their mission, their majors, and their costs. The University of Akron (Ohio) made sweeping, difficult changes early in the crisis. It made the news because it felt so draconian. It turns out, they were prescient. Now, a local small college is making the same painful cuts, hoping to survive a $75 million debt and 50% drop in enrollment in the past 10 years. This massive higher education re-structuring will continue impacting all but the most highly endowed, top-echelon schools. Public universities will be hit too, as tax revenues decline from the pandemic impacts. It’s just begun.
From these tough times, new opportunities will arise; they are already in the works. New ways to become certified or earn a degree are exploding. Lifetime learning options that are affordable will spring forth; and businesses will necessarily develop, partner, and underwrite education programs for their 21st-century workforce needs. Amazon, Google, and other high-tech companies are already on it.
Things are changing rapidly, and I pledge to keep you informed. If you have even ONE friend who can benefit from these blogs, ask them to join the College Cost Crisis Blog group for free. All your emails are held in the strictest confidence and will never be shared.
In case you need an exceptional gift idea (hint, hint!) ENOUGH! The College Cost Crisis is still just one click away! It is very clear parents WANT options. They just don’t know where to find the information in one place. THAT’S the main reason I wrote the book that no one else has done- a book dedicated to your wallet AND your student.
Next week- the Santa Christmas Wish List- College Cost Crisis Edition!
Until next time,
All my best,
Bonnie Burkett
