College students are in the midst of a mental-health crisis. Surveys show rising anxiety and depression in this population, including suicidal thoughts. One survey reported that 95 percent of college students have experienced at least one mental-health issue during the pandemic. Not all of these problems are driven by remote schooling, of course, but the top issue cited in that survey was loneliness and isolation, and it’s difficult not to make the connection.
Measuring learning losses at the college level is more difficult than at the K–12 level, where they have been substantial. But if you ask virtually any faculty member, they will tell you that while some students do fine and some courses port well to an online format, many do not. Getting through to 50 screens on Zoom is far more challenging than to 50 people sitting in front of you. Students may struggle to focus on even the best lecture in the world if that lecture is on their computer.
I’m a professor at Brown University, which last academic year moved many classes online. Unlike some of our peer institutions, however, Brown did allow faculty to teach smaller classes in person if they chose. I took that option in the spring. My class of 19 was mostly seniors, who in another universe would have been celebrating their way through their final semester of college. Many of them told me that attending my class was the only time they left their apartment other than to get tested for COVID. No surprise, several moved home mid-semester, and onto Zoom. I’m having some mental-health issues, they told me.
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