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EAB’s Carla Hickman welcomes Inside Higher Ed News Editor Paul Fain who describes his experience covering the pandemic as “surfing a tsunami.” Paul highlights the stories he thinks have been underreported and those that have generated the most attention at IHE recently.
Carla and Paul share their thoughts on whether schools can adequately protect students and university staff if campuses reopen this fall. They discuss the equity impacts of COVID-19 disruptions on at-risk student populations and offer thoughts on why we may not see the kind of counter-cyclical enrollment bump experienced during the last economic downturn. They also touch on the political ramifications a school must consider in how they respond to the pandemic.



"These changes were coming, but they’re here now in a matter of months instead of years."


"We’ve moved to pass/fail grading and now we need to relook at the admissions requirements for our graduate programs and make some tough calls."



"There’s a lot of debate on whether vulnerable adult students are going to come back in the fall."
Next, explore these related resources
COVID-19 Resource Center for Higher Education
Explore EAB's latest resources to support colleges and universities responses' to coronavirus (COVID-19) on campus.
The Best (and Worst) COVID-19 Crisis Communications
EAB’s Kaitlyn Maloney and Michael Fischer discuss how colleges and universities have handled crisis communications during the pandemic.