Coronavirus Shakes Up Dreams Of College For Many Hawaii Seniors
Many in the 2020 graduating class had big plans to go away to college on the mainland. But the prospect of online-only classes and living far from home is changing their minds.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been an enormous damper for teens who have seen the typical milestone events of high school, such as prom, end-of-year banquets, final goodbyes and graduations, canceled.
But there鈥檚 another thing that鈥檚 stretching their disappointment to new limits: the possibility of being unable to attend the college of their choice come fall.
鈥淚 think a lot of seniors are sad about the prospect of not having an actual graduation,鈥 said Kaya Heimowitz, a student at , a small private school for girls in Honolulu. 鈥淔or me 鈥 it鈥檚 more important to be able to go to college in the fall because that鈥檚 what I鈥檝e been working really hard for for the last four years.鈥
Many colleges and universities may continue the they pivoted to this spring or consider a hybrid model by the start of the next academic year. Some are even delaying opening up campus . Many schools have pushed back their acceptance deadlines from May 1 to June 1 to give students more time to weigh their options given families鈥 changed financial positions due to the economic downturn.
For the thousands of students in Hawaii who head off to the mainland for college each year, a time that would ordinarily be marked by eager acceptance decisions and preparations for a new chapter away from home has been replaced by anxious waiting, uncertainty and serious contemplation of other options, like a gap year or in-state education.
Heimowitz was accepted into four universities, including one of her top choices, American University in Washington, D.C., and the University of Puget Sound in Washington state.
But given the very real possibility colleges could only offer virtual classes, the La Pietra senior, who wants to major in international relations, is looking a little closer to home, to the University of Hawaii Manoa, where she could attend mostly for free from scholarship offers and tuition support.
鈥淚 certainly want her to go where she wants to go and have that college experience, but the uncertainty of that world now is if that鈥檚 actually going to happen,鈥 said her father, Josh Heimowitz, senior managing director for external relations for TFA Hawaii.
鈥淢y perspective is that if she鈥檚 living between here and her mom鈥檚 and taking classes online like they鈥檙e doing now, I鈥檓 not sure at any of those schools the experience would be significantly better than UH.鈥
For some Hawaii teens born and raised on the islands, going to college on the mainland is something they鈥檝e looked forward to since they were young, even if that meant going away for school but coming back one day to live and work in Hawaii.
Daniella White, a senior at Campbell High born and raised in Ewa Beach, plans to major in communications with a minor in journalism. She knew ever since sixth grade she wanted to pursue a field of study involving reading and writing and had set her sights on schools in big cities, including those on the East Coast, to help foster this path.
She鈥檚 currently deciding between two schools: Emerson College in Boston and Seattle University, but knows she must carefully weigh the financial considerations of enrolling in an out-of-state school if it means not being able to physically be in class with others.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big worry, to spend $50,000 on online classes in another state that you won鈥檛 even be in,鈥 said White, 17, who serves as for the Hawaii Board of Education. 鈥淭o attend a school you鈥檙e only attending in your bedroom, in the middle of the ocean, it鈥檚 questionable to me.鈥
What The Numbers Show
About one-third of Hawaii鈥檚 10,000-plus graduating public school seniors attend college on the mainland while two-thirds attend a UH school or other private college in Hawaii, according to shared by .
Last year, 2,178 students among roughly 5,963 college-goers within the Department of Education attended a mainland college or university. The western U.S. states, including California, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona, and the Pacific Northwest region, are the most popular destinations.
鈥淔or students in Hawaii, attending college out of state is a much larger leap than it is for students on the continent because there is no driving home for the weekend,鈥 noted Farris James, college and career counselor for a small private school on Oahu where roughly half of graduating seniors attend college out of state.
That, for some Hawaii seniors, is precisely the appeal.
Rachel Orlowski, a senior at Punahou who was born and raised in Ewa Beach, plans to study English and neuroscience at Dartmouth College, whose campus she was able to visit over spring break last year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 beautiful. It was 18 degrees when we were there, and windy,鈥 she recalled.
鈥淚t鈥檚 almost literally in the middle of nowhere,鈥 she added, of the Ivy League campus in New Hampshire. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 not what I thought I wanted, I thought I wanted to be in the city but the more and more I looked into it, I find it even more appealing.
鈥淭he calmness of it was very alluring.鈥
Now, given the coronavirus impacts, Orlowski, 17, is not sure what her immediate college-going plans hold nor those of her fellow graduating class of 422 at Punahou.
鈥淚 think there are doubts about (whether) college will even start this fall, what does college even mean at this point?鈥 she said. 鈥淲ill college even be held on campus or be online? If they are going to be online, a lot of us will take a gap year,鈥 she said.
The University of Hawaii has decided to from May 1 to August 1 to give students who might not have contemplated the school another look given the pandemic.
The statewide university system 鈥 whose first summer session 鈥 is preparing for every contingency come fall, 鈥渂ut the assumption is that there will be more online offerings along with in-person classes with added precautions like social distancing and use of cloth masks,鈥 said UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl.
He said no decisions have been made about the fall semester.
Some mainland institutions, even those historically popular with Hawaii residents, are seeing a much slower response rate among acceptances.
Oregon State University, whose current Hawaii contingent of 379 represents , has decided to push back its acceptance deadline from May 1 to June 1.
As of April 8, the school had sent out 408 offers to Hawaii-based students. Only 33 have made deposits, and this before the COVID-19 pandemic set in, according to Blake Vawter, Hawaii admissions advisor. That鈥檚 about half as many students who secured a spot at around the same time last year, based on 394 total offers.
鈥淲e were also earlier in our financial aid awards last cycle so family decisions may have been made earlier in the cycle,鈥 Vawter said. 鈥淲e also suspect that our extension of the decision deadline to June 1 is slowing down decisions.鈥
Even if campuses do resume a normal course of operations for next academic year, the possibility of a new wave of the coronavirus is unsettling to Hawaii teens, given the hardships they鈥檇 seen college-age friends experience as they tried to catch flights and return home to the islands last month.
鈥淵ou might have to take two planes, or a bus from school to the airport,鈥 points out Orlowski. 鈥淔or all of us heading to college next year, we really have to weigh our decisions and make sure we look out for our own health.”
鈥淚 would hope and trust that a lot of these institutions wouldn鈥檛 be opening themselves if they knew some of the student body is at risk,鈥 she added.
鈥淭here is no easy choice at the end of the day,鈥 Orlowski said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something we have to face: regardless of what you choose, you may have to lose something.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a tough pill to swallow.鈥
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