High angle view of video conference with teacher on laptop at home. College student learning maths … [+]
When colleges and universities announced indefinite shutdowns and students were abruptly ushered out of their dorms, AnitaB.org and the Last Mile Education Fund collaborated to launch a Covid-19 Emergency Fund for undergraduate women in computing.
The initial investment was exhausted in just six days. Students who were already walking a tightrope to afford college had rapidly fallen into crisis level financial insecurity.
To date, this fund has supported more than 250 young women in computing with emergency grants up to $599. Throughout this process, our teams saw firsthand the critical role financial security places in achieving a college education.
Device access is an issue – even for tech majors. One of the biggest surprises was the number of applicants asking for funds to repair, rent, or purchase a laptop. Students reported not being able to access online classes or participate in coursework due to campus computer labs being closed.
How can a student compete as a technology major without access to a computer of their own?
The opportunity to explore, tinker and create is at the foundation of success in technology. If we truly want to diversify the tech industry, academic institutions must equip all students with the same set of tools.
The digital divide is wider than you think. The most frequently cited need was access to the internet. As students disbursed to their homes or other off-campus refuges, access to the internet became critical.
Many students reported trying to participate in online classes while parked outside McDonald’s, or running up hefty data charges using their phones as hotspots. Rural and Native American students were particularly affected, often having no broadband option in their homes and driving long distances daily to attend their remote classes. Now that virtual is the norm, access to the internet is a basic need.
Home does not necessarily mean ‘safe haven’. While scores of international students were stranded by dorm evictions and closed borders, a surprising number of domestic applicants indicated that going home wasn’t an option.
In some cases, the student couldn’t risk potentially endangering a medically fragile family member. In others, home wasn’t an option due to space, distance, or the home environment. Some students simply didn’t have a home to go to, like students who have aged out of foster care, or those from abusive homes.
A campus is often a safe haven for young adults. Home does not have the same context for all students.
Low-income students are one paycheck or unexpected bill from poverty. Again and again, applicants cited losing employment – both on and off campus – resulting in housing, food and transportation insecurity among others.
An early applicant stated, “I don’t have the money to stockpile food like everyone else and I’m afraid it will run out.” Many others were stressed about contributing to family expenses, or being “one more mouth to feed” in a financially fragile household.
These young people simply do not have a safety net – whether it be a credit card, a family member, or the institution they attend. And the CARES Act left out students over the age of 16, which is most college students.
It is clear that students have fallen through the cracks of the U.S. Covid-19 response. They have lost jobs both on and off campus – but often do not qualify to receive unemployment benefits. College students are ineligible for the $1,200 recovery rebate checks themselves, but their parents also cannot claim the $500 recovery rebate for them as a qualifying child. Many institutions have not refunded students for the housing and meal plans from the Spring term, and many won’t be issuing refunds at all.
Even worse, CARES Act funding that was targeted for students in crisis has still largely not reached them, and both DACA and international students are excluded from receiving Federal assistance. Meanwhile, thousands of internships have been cancelled, and alternate summer employment opportunities have evaporated.
As the Covid-19 crisis continues, we are facing the potential attrition of thousands of low-income youth from the education pipeline. A National College Attainment Network analysis from early May 2020 shows that nearly 250,000 fewer students from the lowest-income backgrounds have renewed their FAFSA for the 2020-21 cycle, and FAFSA renewals were down nearly 5 percent overall (4.7 percent) compared to last year – an anticipated decline of more than 350,000 students.
When people say, ‘children are the future’, it’s both a fact and appeal for a better-built world. Investing in future talent is critical to societal growth and economic security. This weekend, a team of inspirational leaders including former president and first lady, Barack and Michelle Obama will come together to host “Dear Class of 2020”, a virtual commencement on YouTube celebrating the accomplishment and importance of receiving an education – especially during these challenging times. With Covid-19 dramatically changing the global economy and our ways of work, incubating homegrown talent is one of the nation’s most critical responsibilities – both to ensure we have the talent to support economic recovery and to address the egregious income inequality plaguing our nation. At present, an anticipated 350,000 students may not return for the next academic year, and only a fraction will ever complete their degrees. This loss inhibits the strides taken to bridge the inclusion gaps and does long lasting damage to the uniquely diverse talent pipeline in the U.S.
Covid-19 has laid bare the danger of our assumptions when imagining the resources it takes to support students for success in post-secondary education. Students need resources beyond annual financial aid, grants and scholarships that only cover costs for books, tuition and fees. They need resources to thrive.
To ensure the next generation of leaders, thinkers and problem solvers receive the education they need to reach for what comes next, it’s time to invest in the value of potential and build a system that offers academic equity to all.
