No Home, No Wi-Fi: Pandemic Adds to Strain on Poor College Students

Trapped between the financial hardships of the pandemic and the technological hurdles of online learning, the millions of low-income college students across America face mounting obstacles in their quests for higher education. Some have simply dropped out while others are left scrambling to find housing and internet access amid campus closures and job losses. The impact on struggling students can be seen most clearly at the nation’s roughly 1,400 community colleges, where nearly half of students start seeking degrees. Enrollment there declined by 8 percent this fall, compared with a 2.5 percent drop in undergraduate enrollment over all. Most community college students work and many are parents. Home internet access and computers are sometimes unaffordable for them.