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Covid on Campus

Coronavirus disrupts higher education, magnifies inequities and accelerates change

Coronavirus disrupts higher education, magnifies inequities and accelerates change
Illustration by Rachel Sender for APM Reports

An audio documentary from APM Reports.

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Covid on Campus
0:00 | 00:52:27
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July 29, 2020 | by Sasha Aslanian, Stephen Smith, and Sabby Robinson

The coronavirus pandemic represents the greatest challenge to American higher education in decades. Some small regional colleges that were already struggling won’t survive. Other schools, large and small, are rethinking how to offer an education while keeping people safe.

This program explores how institutions are handling the crisis, and how students are trying to navigate a major disruption in their college years.

"Covid on Campus" is one of three audio documentaries this season from the Educate podcast — stories about education, opportunity, and how people learn.

Colleges on the brink

The long tradition of students attending small, residential liberal arts colleges around the country was already shaky before the pandemic. Students are choosing less expensive options and more practical degrees. Experts warn that 10 percent of American colleges — about 200 or more institutions — are on the verge of going under. The pandemic is accelerating that trend.


A digital divide

The pandemic is making getting through college harder for students on the wrong side of the digital divide. In rural Arizona, when campuses closed, some students couldn’t log on from home, because they had no access to the internet. A local sheriff flew laptops and hotspots to community college students on the Navajo Nation.


Reopening in a virus hotspot

Colleges and universities are under pressure to reopen, but bringing students back on campus safely means dealing with dizzying logistics. As the virus surges in Miami, a large commuter campus gets ready.


PRODUCERS
Sasha Aslanian
Stephen Smith
Sabby Robinson
HOST
Stephen Smith
EDITOR
Catherine Winter
WEB EDITOR
Andy Kruse
AUDIO MIX
Craig Thorson
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Chris Worthington
PROJECT COORDINATORS
Shelly Langford
Lauren Humpert
THEME MUSIC
Gary Meister
MUSIC HELP
Liz Lyon
FACT CHECKER
Betsy Towner Levine
SPECIAL THANKS
Alex Baumhardt
Emily Hanford
Chris Julin

Support for this program comes from the Spencer Foundation and Lumina Foundation.


Resources
  • Transcript of documentary audio

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