Student athletes say they were caught 'completely off guard' when their colleges closed permanently, and they're not alone
The COVID-19 pandemic has put strain on some struggling universities.
Several colleges have closed during the pandemic, due to financial troubles.
The closures have caused major stressors on students, who are displaced when it happens.
Dharma Kotecha was on spring break when she learned her college, Ohio's Urbana University, was closing for good.
Kotecha, who moved to the US from the UK to play soccer at a collegiate level, was in her freshman year at the school, a year that the COVID-19 pandemic had already disrupted.
She was devastated. She didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to her teammates.
"We were on spring break at the time so before we left it was a quick goodbye to my friends thinking I would see them again in a week's time, but for most, I haven't seen them in person since," she told Insider.
But Kotecha wasn't alone.
Data compiled by Higher Ed Dive shows that least 10 nonprofit colleges closed last year, and at least four others have plans to shutter by 2022.
Mike Reilly, the executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, told Insider that the pandemic has caused a further strain on already-struggling institutions.
The closures are severely impacting students, as well - the AACRAO said in a report in October that a growing number of students are being left with "incomplete educations and many questions about their academic plans and personal finances."
One soccer player transferred to another college after Urbana University closed. Then that school closed, too.
Kotecha's school, Urbana University, which is a branch of Franklin University in Urbana, Ohio, that specialized in liberal arts education, closed in May 2020, just weeks after announcing it would shutter.
Local reporting from the time said Urbana closed due to challenges brought on by the pandemic and years of low enrollment.
"I was very shocked and upset," Kotecha said.
She said students were given little notice and she had to scramble to find plans for her sophomore year.
As a soccer player, Kotecha said she wanted to keep her studies in the US, where she believes women's soccer is more competitive.
In May 2020 she was offered a spot at Johnson & Wales University's North Miami campus in Florida, but in June, the school announced it, too, was closing.
"I was devastated," Kotecha said. "Unfortunately, a few weeks later, my granddad passed away. So, I wasn't in the right head space to study or speak to any more coaches. I made the decision to take a year out, get a job, and be there with my family."
Months later and halfway across the country in Bronxville, New York, Concordia College announced it was closing, too.
The school announced in January that it would be ceasing all operations by fall 2021. Concordia said it would allow students to continue their education at the nearby Iona College through a teach-out program, and it would be selling its campus to Iona.
Chauncey Sterling, a sophomore at Concordia from Wilingboro, New Jersey, will not be going to Iona. Instead, he wants to transfer to a school where he can play basketball, like he has at Concordia.
He told Insider that he and his teammates were caught "completely off guard" by the news of the school closing.
He's looking for a new school to play basketball at next year, but said he is under "intense pressure" to do so as his final semester at Concordia wraps up.
"Knowing that we all have to find a new school, it puts us in a very rough position having to reach out to other schools in the middle of the school year with one semester left," he said.
He said he's nervous about what's to come, especially when plans are still up in the air - but he wants to find a school where he can be successful not only on the court but as a student, too.
"Being mentally strong and staying positive through all kinds of adversity is something that has allowed me to be successful throughout my life," he said. "Always demanding the best of myself and working hard to be successful in every challenge I'm faced with is who I am."
More than 1,200 nonprofit and for-profit higher education campuses have closed in the last five years, displacing nearly half a million students, according to the AACRAO's October 2020 report on closed and merged colleges.
In the solely nonprofit sphere, at least 65 institutions have shuttered or announced plans to shutter since 2016, according to data compiled by Higher Ed Dive.
Colleges across the country have faced even more financial strain over the last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fewer students living in dorms, fewer events on campus, and declining enrollments all play a factor.
The first coronavirus relief bill gave $12.5 billion to colleges, but for smaller schools without large endowments, government funding may not not be enough to survive until campuses return to normal.
"I think the pandemic has accelerated merger discussions and likely created more financial pressure for many colleges," Reilly said. "I think it will ultimately lead to more school closures, particularly if enrollments are slow to recover."
Reilly told Insider that students should start looking for other options as soon as they hear word of a college potentially closing.
"Begin reaching out to other institutions that have similar programs, and make sure to get a head start on what you need to transfer there. Otherwise it's a bit of a rocky ride," he told Insider.
He also encouraged schools to follow AACRAO guidelines when closing.
The guidelines encourage schools to hold on to data from its years as a functioning school, help organize teach-out programs, and support students, both former and current. Some students are also eligible for federal student loan discharges when schools close.
Being athletes, Kotecha and Sterling have the support of coaches and the National Collegiate Athletic Association as they plan what comes next in their education.
Following a gap year, Kotecha will join St. Thomas Aquinas College in Sparkill, New York, where as a sophomore she will continue her Division II soccer career.
"Urbana gave us a choice when they closed. We could continue our major at Franklin University - but that would mean not playing soccer - or they would support us if we transferred to another college," she said. "I am still hurt I wasn't able to continue my college and soccer career at Urbana, but I'm hoping the next three years at STAC will be great."
While Sterling doesn't know where he's going next, he has high hopes of what will come.
"I know that I am capable of overcoming this obstacle, especially since I truly believe that he hardest pressures create the greatest diamonds," Sterling said.
Read the original article on Insider
Chelsea Black
ReplyDeleteGot it
ReplyDeleteSpring 2021
Mcandrews