(ZEROHEDGE) – Still within the first month of most of the nation's universities and colleges reopening their campuses, albeit with severe restrictions and social distancing measures, administrative leaders are awaiting with bated breath just how bad the pandemic impact will be in terms of a financial hit and decline in student enrollment.
A number of campuses told students to go home a mere couple weeks after reopening, transitioning to all online classes after an immediate observed rise in COVID-19 cases. Others are struggling on, with entire 'quarantine dorms' that resemble prisons for those that get sick, uncertain about what the rest of the fall semester holds.
But the numbers are starting to trickle in. Bloomberg reports that one prominent campus in the nation's capital, George Washington University, has witnessed its enrollment tumble, already down 17% from last year.
Bloomberg underscores that it's "an early indication of the impact of Covid-19 on U.S. higher education" given that families are struggling with the combination of paying pricey tuition and fees for a college experience severely regulated by masks, coronavirus tests, plexiglass barriers, and harsh rules that prevent spending time with groups of friends.
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