If I were the parent of a college student right now, I'd advise them to withdraw for the semester, enroll for online Gen Ed credits at the local community college in the meantime at 1/5th the price, and transfer it in to a 4 year college once all of this is over. 1/

The way that many 4 yr colleges have handled the COVID crisis is an unmitigated disaster of failed bureaucratic central planning, hasty & unprepared closures after predictable outbreaks, and a panicked reversion into nannyism that places adult students into 24/7 surveillance. 2/

Despite offering a severely diminished educational experience, these same colleges are still charging full price tuition, room & board, and other fees. Even rebates for reduced services are not accurately prorated to the dates or levels of their suspension. 3/

Approximately 1/3rd of the typical undergrad college experience is spent taking mandatory Gen Ed classes - the generic courses in English, writing, foreign language, history math etc. These are easy to work around because they're the same thing that community colleges teach. 4/

Gen Eds are often thought of as "blow off" classes. Unfortunately this reputation is deserved. Most students quickly forget what they learned in them, and many are redundant from HS. Rather, Gen Eds have become make-work programs for faculty employment in unpopular subjects. 5/

But tuition for Gen Ed classes is almost always the same price as tuition for classes in your major. As a result, Gen Ed requirements extend the length of college and make it significantly more expensive: 1.5-2 years longer in classes + room and board while there. 6/

Since most Gen Eds are generic and transferrable and since the level of instruction is diminished almost everywhere due to COVID, why not take your Gen Eds online at community college for much cheaper? Knock them out of the way & transfer the credits in once all this is over. 7/7