Over twenty percent of college students may defer the upcoming academic year, according to a recent Axios poll.
The deferment data comes as prominent universities across the country move from in-person to online classes in response to campus-wide outbreaks of the coronavirus. Of the 21% of students who may not return, most are working full-time in the interim, Axios reported. The statistic comes as 27% of students lost their summer internship, according to the poll.
Notre Dame University said that it would move to online classes for at least two weeks after nearly 150 cases were confirmed during move-in. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill moved classes online for the fall semester after outbreaks were reported in dorms and a fraternity.
The poll also found that though 83% of students on campus will follow their school’s coronavirus protocol, 58% of students would not notify their school if they witnessed another student breaking protocol.
According to our latest @CollegeReaction / @axios poll:
• 27% of college students lost their jobs this summer.
• 35% had their jobs moved to virtual
• 14% saw a pay cut
Young people not immune to coronavirus economic impact pic.twitter.com/qfkqazEVwz
— Cyrus Beschloss (@CyrusBeschloss) August 19, 2020
Seventy-seven percent of students said that their school should “not participate” in fall sports, though it is unclear how students felt about postponing fall sports, which some conferences have said they will attempt, rather than cancelling them outright. (RELATED: Big Ten Network Releases Emotional Video After Conference Cancels Upcoming Season)
The statistic emphasizes universities like UNC which, despite moving classes online, plans to continue with fall sports, local outlet WBTV reported.
Some of the largest universities across the country have opted to transition to online classes in recent weeks. Michigan State University announced that it would begin the semester online Tuesday, telling students to avoid returning to campus completely. Both Harvard and Princeton said that their academic years would be online as well.
The Axios poll was conducted among 800 students from Aug. 16-17.
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