Published by Inside Higher Ed
If a prospective student wants to visit Harvard University right now, the university doesn’t want her to come.
“The Admissions & Financial Aid Office and the Visitor Center are temporarily closed while staff are working remotely. We encourage you to explore Harvard College through our student stories and virtual tour,” says a note on the website of the admissions office.
On the other side of the country, Stanford University says, “The general public is welcome to visit the exterior spaces of campus. Pending ongoing community health considerations, guided tours are tentatively scheduled to relaunch mid-winter for prospective students and in spring for organized group visits. The Visitor Center remains closed to the public at this time, along with most of the indoor spaces of campus.”
Harvard and Stanford, of course, don’t lack applicants. They don’t need to worry that a few weeks or more of not having prospective students visit will create a problem. For most colleges, however, the current freshman class wasn’t breaking records (or even meeting targets). Undergraduate enrollment fell by 3.2 percent this fall, echoing fall 2020’s 3.4 percent decline, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
The University of California system, for example, also does not lack for applicants, and several UC campuses recently extended the time that they will provide an undergraduate education wholly remotely. But some of its campuses are still giving tours, with restrictions.
At the San Diego campus, the campus tours website says, “These tours are very limited at this time. Tours are designed for students interested in applying, who have already applied or who have been newly accepted to UC San Diego. Proof of vaccination or negative COVID test must be presented at the time of check in. Due to space limitations, all visitors must register prior to their visit.”
At UCLA, the website says reservations are required and “You will wear a face mask during the entire duration of the campus tour. Masks are required and failure to comply with this requirement will result in being dismissed from the tour.”
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Lawrence University, in Wisconsin, has campus tours, but visitors cannot attend classes or use the campus dining halls.
Lees-McRae College, in North Carolina, is also limiting the number of people who can visit, said Kevin J. Phillips, vice president for enrollment management.
Four students, and their family members, may visit at one time, he said. But the college will arrange for another guide when more than four students want to visit on a given day.
Masks are recommended but not required for tours, he said.
Lees-McRae brought in more first-year students this fall than ever before. But the college’s total was 301, and it needs to keep growing, Phillips said.
At the University of Charleston, in West Virginia, Beth Wolfe, executive vice president of enrollment management, said, “When COVID first emerged and everything shut down, we knew we had to have a way to still interact with students and provide them with the information and connection they would have received through on-campus events and tours.”
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Rick Hesel of the Art & Science Group said the loss of visiting days in January could reinforce challenges in higher education over class. “The more affluent students tend to be more open to visiting campuses” and will do so when visits open up again, he said.
He urged colleges to add to their video content and make it possible for all students to learn about the campuses.
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