A College Education is About More Than Just Classes: Marist Students Reflect on College’s Future

Students accustomed to in-person classroom discussions and the bustle of a residential campus like Marist College now find themselves in a very different learning environment, acutely aware of what they are missing. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, participating in forums rather than in-person discussions, meeting friends on Zoom instead of on walks to class, and signing up for WebEx meetings instead of professors’ office hours has amplified what students’ tuition is really paying for — and it’s not just lectures and reading assignments. 

With half a semester of online classes under their belts, many Marist students feel that taking courses online is simply not worth their time and especially not their money. Barring a huge improvement to the online class system, students would not want to attend college in the fall if it is online-only — although for many, there isn’t even an option.

Graphic by Sydney Kysar, Chief of Graphic Design. Source: Marist Archives & Special Collections. Inspired by the New York Magazine cover art for “The Coming Disruption.”

In terms of education alone, online clearly isn’t a substitute for in-person classes. Without the camaraderie of a classroom setting, students are missing out on the most crucial parts of college-level courses. Sabrina Rehfeld ‘21, a political science major, said that discussions are the best parts of her classes, and learning behind a screen is simply not the same. 

“I picked the classes I’m taking in the fall because some of them are [taught by] my favorite teachers, and that’s so valuable,” she said. “I pay to go to Marist for the full experience, not just to read articles at home on my computer and teach myself.” 

In an interview with Intelligencer, Scott Galloway, a marketing professor at NYU, summed up how the value, the price, and even the “product” of a college education has degraded since COVID-19 upended nearly every institution in the U.S. “There’s the education certification and then there’s the experience part of college. The experience part of it is down to zero, and the education part has been dramatically reduced,” he said. 

The “college experience” that students are promised when handing over thousands of dollars in tuition money encompasses more than just classroom sessions. College revolves around campus life: discussing and debating with peers and professors, hands-on work, and, above all, forming personal connections — whether those are mentoring relationships with professors or friendships started in a freshman dorm. If this is what college is, then an online semester wouldn’t truly be college at all — and if that’s the case, then many students aren’t interested.

As professors are still learning how to conduct classes online, in terms of both the technological side and the methodology, students feel that an iLearn education not only impacts their ability to learn, but also their work ethic. “I’m not as motivated at home, and I do the bare minimum because I don’t have to be in class and put in as much effort, and it reflects in my grades,” Rehfeld said. 

Without the same academic rigor and benefits of the classroom atmosphere, many students don’t feel that the current tuition price tag is justified for an online semester. “The reason colleges cost as much as they do is because of all of the resources their students have access to, whether it be the library, computer labs, or even study rooms,” said Ryan Loeffer ‘21, a communication major. “If everyone is learning from home, they don’t have access to those resources their school offers them.” At Marist, there are lectures, workshops, and various other opportunities that augment the education experience, and the benefits are simply not the same without them.

For students in the sciences, missing the out-of-classroom experiences isn’t just inconvenient; it’s detrimental to achieving success in their career field. The Marist campus offers research studies, lab time, and clinical hours that cannot be replicated online. Kristyn Van Allen ‘21, a biology major, said that poorly-conducted virtual lab simulations are not serving their intended purpose. “I’m still getting the credits and all the classes I need to graduate, but I don’t feel that I’m getting the same preparation for my career that I would be getting in person,” she said. 

On the other end of the academic spectrum, art students are facing challenges in adapting their studio work to their at-home environment. Carli Mathias ‘21, a studio art major, went from working in the Steel Plant, designed specifically to foster creativity, to her dining room table. “I’m confined to a much smaller space than I would have in the Steel Plant. In the first half of the semester I was working with paintings as large as 5x5 feet and now I don’t have room to do anything larger than 2x2,” she said.  

But what she’s missing more is the camaraderie between the art students and faculty, and having her work critiqued in real-time. “Classes in general feel really impersonal and I find myself much less engaged. It feels like my art has become something I procrastinate rather than something I look forward to doing,” she said. 

The “college experience,” of course, applies to the social aspect as well. Dervla Connaughton ‘21 is a tour guide at Marist and notes that when choosing a college, prospective students base their decisions off of more than just academic programs. “I know that prospective students are always dying to know what the dorms are like, what the food is like, and most importantly what campus life is like,” she said. 

Nina, whose last name has been omitted, an incoming freshman in Marist’s class of 2024, said that she would prefer to defer a semester or attend community college if classes move online in the fall. 

“It would be much harder to adjust to college life if the first semester or year of college was remote, and we would have less time to adjust if we jumped in the second semester or even sophomore year,” she said. The first semester of college is integral  for not only adjusting to the rigor of college courses, but for helping students find their independence, come out of their shell, and even test their limits. 

If the COVID-19 pandemic impacted their freshman year, many upperclassmen said that they would have deferred a semester rather than taken courses online. The challenging academic transition coupled with a lack of peer support can add to the mounting pressures already facing incoming freshmen. The campus atmosphere and potential friendships is “a big part of applying to college and what prospective students look and feel for,” Loeffer said. “That socialization is a tremendous part of the college experience, and I feel that losing that is detrimental to the total value one can get from attending college.”

For students who have already grown to appreciate life on the Marist campus, it’s even more difficult to imagine another semester at home. But for some upperclassmen so close to completing degrees, deferring for a semester is not feasible. “A semester off doesn’t really work with my life plan, and although online classes aren’t great, [deferring is] not an opinion in my mind,” Van Allen said. “I have to go to grad school after this and I would like to start my life and career before I turn 25.” 

Students attending graduate school would like to do so sooner rather than later, and others don’t know how to spend their fall if they’re not in class. “I’m at a place in the curriculum where the courses I’m taking are pretty vital to have in the job search; so if I took the semester off and tried to find a remote job, for example, I would be quite a bit less qualified than I would be if I completed the semester,” said Alexandra Wells ‘21. And, of course, deferring may not be financially viable for many students — no matter how subpar they believe online classes are.  

Many students, like Wells, are concerned about potential exposure to the virus when returning to campus. She believes that opening campus without a vaccine for COVID-19 is reckless, especially for students who live far away. “There’s definitely a chance I would want to stay home. It’s not like I can drive to campus. I would have to be on a 6-plus hour flight and two trains. I think that West Coast/Central U.S. students — and especially international students — have this extra issue they’re dealing with because we have to take multiple modes of transportation to get to Marist.” 

But others, especially those who don’t have to travel far, are willing to take the risk if it means finishing their degree surrounded by friends and opportunities they may value even more after their remote learning experience. Van Allen believes that she’d be just as at-risk working a job at home during a semester off as she would be on campus. “If I did take a semester off, I would be working as a caregiver (CNA) at the assisted living and memory care facility where I’m going back to [working at] next week. So, it’s not like I would be less safe.”

A recent College Reaction poll noted that 65% of college students would return to campus in the fall even if there is no vaccine or cure for COVID-19. However, some experts have been predicting that the future of colleges may be an entirely, or at least somewhat, online. Because of this, the campus-centered “college experience” that has become the norm may not be so anymore. This upcoming semester, students may decide to opt out of courses if there is no campus on which they can take them; But in the future, campuses might not be an option at all, and the college experience will be completely different. 

“There are stereotypes for every generation, as we see with baby boomers and millennials,” Connaughton said. “But now we have a generation of young people experiencing college in a pandemic. I can’t even begin to imagine how this will permanently affect this generation for years to come.”