New Survey shows high school seniors will need help getting to college this fall

POSTED ON Apr 13, 2020

A new survey has found that while 89 percent of high school seniors are still planning to enroll at a 4-year college this fall, 11 percent said no. At least 40 percent of the high school seniors who have already decided on a school for Fall 2020 say they are not receiving adequate information about how COVID-19 may affect their enrollment.

Simpson Scarborough, a research and marketing agency for higher education, which recently released the results of its National Student Survey, focused on high school seniors who were planning to enroll at a 4-year residential college/university this fall prior to March 1, and current college freshmen, sophomores, and juniors who were enrolled at 4-year residential college/university prior to March 1.

High school seniors surveyed said they would like to get the opportunity to:

1. Observe an online class (64%)

2. Do a virtual campus tour (64%)

3. Watch a video of campus life (57%)

4. Participate in a live video chat with faculty in their major (50%)

5. Have a live chat with students planning to enroll this fall (45%)

6. Have a video chat with current students (44%)

At least 20 percent say it is likely/highly likely they will NOT be going to college next term. 1 in 4 decided high school seniors say their college choice has been affected by COVID-19.

According to the study, 4 out of 5 students surveyed still currently plan to enroll, but the number may decrease as the fallout of COVID-19 continues to affect more families in the United States.

The decided were spread almost evenly across the Midwest (24%), Northeast (29%), South (25%), and West (22%). Survey participants were mainly female (76%) and the race ethnicity breakdown reflected the national demographic.