Two-thirds of college students comfortable returning to campus for fall semester: Survey

Colleges plan for virtual fall semester

Colleges are considering a virtual fall semester amid coronavirus fears as high school students reevaluate their decision to attend. FOX Business’ Gerri Willis with more.

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Roughly two-thirds of college students said they would be comfortable attending in-person classes come the fall semester, even without the existence of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus vaccine.

A recent survey by College Reaction found that 65 percent “would attend in-person classes,” while 31 percent would instead opt for virtual classes and 4 percent would choose to temporarily remove themselves from the school altogether.

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On Tuesday night, the chancellor of the California State University system said he expects the vast majority of classes on the system's 23 campuses to be taught online in the fall.

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CSU calls itself “the nation’s largest four-year public university system,” and is attended by just shy of 500,000 students each year, according to the school’s website.

As of roughly 5 p.m. Tuesday, approximately 8 percent of colleges throughout the nation were planning for online learning in the fall semester, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported.

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The College Reaction survey also revealed some negative effects of the distance-learning model.

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Forty-five percent of the people surveyed admitted they attended their virtual classes “less often” than when they had to be there in person, while 71 percent said they found themselves getting sidetracked “by things going on at home,” and “are more distracted by their computer and cell phone.”

Eighty-one percent of students called for their schools to decrease tuition prices by at least 5 percent.

The survey was conducted between May 8 and May 10 and included answers from 835 students.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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