By K.E. Fisher

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been vividly obvious in the high school environment. Online classes, in-person instruction, and constant questions of what’s coming next has brought the American education system over a full school year worth of confusion. In simple terms, secondary education in the U.S. has been turned on its head.

Another aspect related to the unpredictability of high school education is the impact it has had on the next phase of life for many teenagers: college.

The pandemic has caused drastic changes in high school grading systems, as well as things like AP tests, ACT and SAT scores, and GPAs and grades in general. These details have heavily influenced college admissions and how they have handled applications, especially considering that every school district and state have taken different approaches to schooling over this last year.

Since some districts have remained online, some have returned in-person, and some have adopted hybrid schedules for students, it’s impossible for colleges and universities to form a universal expectation for the requirements of prospective students. According to the Associated Press, more than 1,600 institutions have made the submission of standardized test scores optional in this latest round of college applications. This is in acknowledgement of the number of cancellations and drastic changes that have occurred since the beginning of the pandemic. For example, many ACT and SAT test locations have closed, making it difficult for many high school students to access those tests.

Steps that would usually be taken to get information about students have had to change, as well. Institutions such as Washington University, Bowdoin College, and Ohio University (to name only a few), have shifted necessary interviews for scholarship-eligible students online, either via live calls or submitted videos.

On another level, the pandemic has seemed to cause drastic changes in higher education goals for many students. Those who previously had goals of attending college have found themselves second-guessing where they want to go, or even if they want to go at all, given the events of the last year.

According to a survey from Junior Achievement and Citizens, upwards of one-quarter of last year’s high school graduates delayed their college plans, whether by choice or not. The College Board has reported steadily-climbing college costs over the last several years, and for many high schoolers, the monetary requirements of college simply cannot be met.

“Gap years,” which have become more popular in the past decade or so, have skyrocketed among recent high school graduates. This year, though, evidence shows that students taking gap years are not necessarily doing it for the thrill of traveling or road-tripping -- instead, they’re working, trying to save the money necessary for a 4-year college or community college.

It’s too early to determine how the pandemic will truly affect higher education for the extended future, but historical trends have shown that delaying college makes a student more likely to stay out of it altogether. As of now, it seems that the financial and academic challenges means that more and more high school graduates are being drawn more towards gap years or the workforce.