If the pandemic drags on into the fall, it’s likely to devastate an area that has so far escaped with minimal damage: higher education https://trib.al/blCxQz3 

The problems confronting America’s colleges long predate the coronavirus crisis.

But if current trends continue, the pandemic is likely to act as a catalyst for a historic reckoning that may transform higher education https://trib.al/blCxQz3 

The cost of attending both public and private universities has skyrocketed.

In 1971, the sticker price of tuition, room and board was $18,140 in today’s dollars. Compare that to the average cost of attending now: $48,150 https://trib.al/blCxQz3 

Less selective schools have grown more dependent on tuition dollars for their annual operating budgets.

In 1999, tuition and fees provided 16% of total revenue at all public colleges and universities. Ten years later, that percentage had crept up to 22% https://trib.al/blCxQz3 

Yet this happened in the face of declining enrollments.

Enrollments have fallen by 11% nationally over the past eight years despite significant increases in the number of international students attending American universities https://trib.al/blCxQz3 

If August rolls around and colleges and universities remain shuttered, it doesn’t mean that they can’t operate.

But college students aren’t going to want to shell out $50,000 a year to watch their haggard-looking professor on Zoom https://trib.al/blCxQz3 

That’s why universities spend so much money on amenities rather than actual education https://trib.al/blCxQz3 

Brick-and-mortar colleges and universities can’t afford to wait until things resume to normal.

They’ve got fixed costs: buildings and laboratories to maintain; faculty and staff to pay; debts to service; and many other expenses https://trib.al/blCxQz3 

Hundreds of schools who have bet their futures on residential education are in a serious bind.

This virus will be a hurricane force, fundamentally reshaping the landscape of higher education https://trib.al/blCxQz3