Published by The Morning Call
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As dorms and cafeterias are shut down nationwide, colleges are figuring out how to refund students, who pay thousands of dollars for room and board. Some schools, including Harvard University, Ohio State University and the University of California San Diego, have said students will get back some portion of room and board fees for the weeks not spent on campus.
But for colleges that are already financially strapped partly because of a decline in enrollment, losing those fees could be disastrous.
“It’s quite a challenge for institutions, particularly many private institutions and even some of your regional public institutions that are really under financial stress currently,” said Craig Goebel, principal at Art & Science Group, a higher education consulting and research firm. "It just adds more pressure to what is already a pressured situation.”
Goebel, who was not speaking specifically about any Lehigh Valley college, said he foresees the biggest coronavirus hits will be to small, private, already cash-strapped colleges with high ticket prices.
On Wednesday, Moody’s outlook shifted to “negative” for higher education institutions, citing the potential loss of revenues.
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