Covid Dropouts

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic students at Champlain and around the country are asking themselves a question; is college really worth it? The pandemic has caused schools across the country to either go completely virtual or develop some form of hybrid learning.

The University of Vermont and Champlain College two colleges in the Burlington area have opted for a hybrid approach. Despite the circumstances, they are trying to offer the best education that they can.

However, that still doesn’t stop students from feeling like college may not be worth it.

David Hopkins, a former Champlain student, ultimately arrived at the verdict that college was not worth it for him and decided to pursue his career without acquiring a degree.

“I think it really depends on what field you’re going into, like for something like cooking you really wouldn’t need to. I get it if you do but it doesn’t make sense to me. Other things like the business I think you’d for sure need to go to school for.”

A lot of people may drop out of school if they feel like they won’t need the degree to do what they want to do. For others, the cost of college has been another barrier that they would rather avoid. Historically student loan debt has grown steeply; today it totals 1.70 trillion dollars. It has grown at a rate 6 times faster than the economy according to the site Educationdata.org, which also states that 9% of students attending public institutions are behind on their loan debts due in part to the pandemic.

The pandemic itself has caused a massive predicted upsurge in college dropout rates. According to MSNBC, the prediction was that in September of 2020 that the dropout numbers could surge to 24 million. Coupled with the financial crisis brought on by the pandemic along with lower-income families not having access to the proper resources to keep a college career afloat, these numbers may be a reality. This has not stopped all students however, many still continue to have their college careers on track in hopes that this will soon all be over.

By Lucas McCarthy

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