Cap And Frown: The Future of Higher Education

Many of my friends have children either in high school or college. 

Watching various graduation ceremonies - it's clear that this was an abnormal year for graduates.  That being said, I've been impressed with the sense of greater community that being isolated from your local community can give. 

via The Atlantic

The coronavirus pandemic has put schools and students in an interesting predicament. 

While the short-term ramifications have mainly targeted students, the long-term ramifications will also greatly impact schools. 

Lockdown orders have put massive financial stress on schools. Scrambling to get students educated, building online materials, purchasing software, etc. all take massive amounts of money. On top of that, many universities have had to issue refunds for various services that students weren't able to receive. 

We often think about how severely the pandemic and quarantine have affected hotels and air travel, but education was hit equally as hard. 

I'm interested to see how schools will recover. Some universities are staying online for the fall semester, some are downsizing and cutting programs,  some are reducing tuition ... but many are afraid of their financial model breaking under the pressure (regardless of the size of their endowment). 

With nearly infinite education available online for free (including from universities), this could be a chance for a new educational model... time will tell. 

What do you think is going to happen?