Megan Faucher of Pawtucket has been waiting to go to college, but the pandemic has made the wait even longer.
Faucher, a single mother of four who also cares for a nephew, had plans to start attending Providence College remotely in the summer, but she felt then it was best to delay her enrollment until the fall.
Now she’s postponed her plans again because of the uncertainty surrounding whether her children will be in the classroom this fall and when she will restart her own job as a teacher’s aide, creating concerns over child care and finances.
“I just didn’t think it was the right time to [take out] student loans,” she said.
Faucher’s not alone in her decision to put her college education on hold. Colleges and universities in Rhode Island and nationally are seeing a steep decline in enrollments this fall as many students delay their higher education instead of dealing with mask-filled campuses, constant coronavirus testing and remote classrooms.
Also affecting enrollment is the lower number of international students coming to the U.S. to study this fall because of difficulty obtaining visas and the fear of getting COVID-19.
The lower number of students is exacerbating financial problems for colleges, many of which are still reeling from losses sustained last spring when students were forced from campuses and schools lost millions in income from room and board, and other fees.
In some cases, the money woes have led to layoffs, furloughs, pay cuts and the reduction of programming.
And the issues aren’t expected to go away soon. S&P Global Rating said in a recent report that weakened enrollments this fall and how that will affect operating budgets could lead to credit rating downgrades at a time when borrowing might provide a temporary crutch to some schools.
At Providence College, administrators said this fall’s freshmen class is about 7% smaller than last year. And the college is projecting losses of about $5 million in revenue.
And the difficulties run deeper at other schools.
Rhode Island School of Design, which has a large number of international students, said its enrollment of more than 2,500 full-time students could be down as much as 16% this fall, and there could be a third fewer students on campus because as many as 24% of students will be studying remotely.
RISD spokeswoman Jaime Marland said financial losses related to COVID-19 could add up to more than $50 million, which Marland called the worst financial setback in school history. To avoid layoffs and minimize furloughs, school administrators have enacted cuts in pay and benefits.
At the same time, RISD is boosting its student financial aid packages, according to Marland.
While Bryant University hasn’t disclosed its enrollment figures for the fall, it has said it is grappling with an $11 million deficit. In response, Bryant laid off about 3% of its employees and enacted involuntary furloughs, bringing its total workforce reduction to 4% of its approximately 690 employees.
Meanwhile, state colleges haven’t been immune.
Community College of Rhode Island said it is expecting a 10% to 20% enrollment decline compared with last fall while Rhode Island College is projecting a 13.5% enrollment drop.
Both schools have announced severe cutbacks, with CCRI laying off 122 part-time employees and RIC shuttering an elementary school on campus, reducing administrators’ salaries and cutting many adjunct faculty positions while leaving other positions unfilled.
At the same time, the state’s flagship institution of higher education, the University of Rhode Island, recently said it expected a 3% decline in enrollment.
Along with predicting that New England Institute of Technology’s overall student population will decline by more than 10% this fall, New England Tech is forecasting a shift in enrollment demographics.
Executive Vice President Scott Freund said he expects that because of higher unemployment, there will be an increase of adult students, partially offsetting the decline of out-of-state students and recent high school graduates.
The shortage of students will be unmistakable at Johnson & Wales University’s Providence campus, where 6,700 students would attend classes in a typical fall semester, with about half living in downtown Providence or the Harborside campus.
With a switch to a mix of online and in-person classes, the number of students living on campus this fall will decline to between 1,600 to 1,900 students, according to Miriam S. Weinstein, JWU director of communications and media relations.
Salve Regina University in Newport could see a net revenue decrease of $3.5 million, based on a 5% decrease in student enrollment, combined with fewer students living in on-campus housing, according to James R. Fowler Jr., vice president of enrollment management.
Brown University hasn’t publicly disclosed its enrollment numbers, but it has delayed the start of in-person classes until October. The school, which has been dealing with severe COVID-19-related losses, said classes will take place remotely in September.
Not all universities are reporting significant enrollment declines, however. Roger Williams University said it has so far only experienced a 1.9% decline in student registrations compared with last year.
Alexa Gagosz is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Gagosz@PBN.com.
Correction: An earlier version of this story gave an inaccurate enrollment decline expected at the University of Rhode Island this fall. The university expected a 3% decline in enrollment.
