Hundreds of thousands of high school graduates from all over the country and the world are set to start college this August — and they have no idea what they’re getting into.

Why it matters: The coronavirus pandemic is accelerating a troubling trend of falling enrollment at American universities. This could push many institutions over the edge.

The big picture: The pandemic is hitting universities amid an intensifying, nationwide debate over whether college is worth the cost.

  • Rising tuition, coupled with fear of accruing mountains of student debt, have chipped away at enrollment. In 2019, 250,000 fewer students were enrolled compared with 2018, per NPR.

Now institutions are contending with a crisis unlike anything they’ve navigated in recent history.

While only a few universities have finalized their plans for the fall, a normal semester seems increasingly like a pipe dream. And the financial punishment that colleges will endure is becoming clear.

  • Enrollment could plummet even further — especially among incoming freshmen unwilling to pay sky-high tuition for online classes.
  • On top of that, many universities will suffer lost revenue from athletics, room and board.
  • For public campuses, state money could dry up. “Funding for higher education is very volatile during a recession,” says Robert Kelchen, a professor at Seton Hall University in New Jersey who studies higher education finance. “It’s the easiest place to cut in state budgets.”
  • The University of Michigan has predicted it will lose $1 billion due to the coronavirus. The University of Kentucky projects a $70 million hit.
  • The University of Arizona has announced furloughs and pay cuts for faculty, per the Arizona Daily Star. And many colleges and universities have already implemented hiring freezes, reports Inside Higher Ed.

Read the full story here.