COLUMBUS – Colleges in Ohio and across the nation are scrambling to close deep budget holes and some have been pushed to the brink of collapse after the coronavirus outbreak triggered a series of financial losses.
Scores of colleges say they’re taking heavy hits as they refund money to students for housing, dining and parking that went unused after campuses closed last month.
Yet college leaders say that’s only the start of their troubles: Even if campuses are allowed to reopen by this fall, they worry that many students won’t return.
Officials believe the economic downturn will leave many Americans unable to afford tuition, and colleges are forecasting heavy losses among international students.
Miami University in Oxford is reportedly bracing for a 20 percent decline in new students in the fall.
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Columbus State Community College has bought 600 Chromebooks from a distributor to hand out to students who do not have direct access to personal computers in their homes.
The college transitioned to virtual learning when its spring semester began on March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“As an open-access college, we have a larger population of low-income students than most institutions. We need to make sure our most vulnerable students aren’t lost to a digital divide,” said Allen Kraus, vice president of Enrollment Services and Marketing and Communications.
Columbus State also purchased 200 older iPhone models to be used as mobile Internet hot spots, allowing students without reliable home Internet service.
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The Community Shelter Board is opening three new social distancing centers and plans to open four additional shelters where homeless residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 or who are showing symptoms can be isolated.
The Board says 6,700 homeless people in central Ohio will become infected with the coronavirus and 2,700 will need to be isolated or quarantined. The Board estimates it will need $2 million to care for these patients.