Gov/Econ- Vinson

Unit One

Contemporary American Issues

Find a news article about something relevant to current events. It could be about politics, the economy, health
care, the environment, foreign affairs, etc. Be sure to use a well-known, reputable source such as major news
outlets, magazines or professional journals.

Copy and paste the URL for your source here:

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/07/perspectives/higher-education-pandemic/index.html

Provide a summary of the story here (in your own words, using specific details and quotes from the article):

The article, “College in America could be changed forever” by Charles A. Goldman and Rita T. Karam
discusses the major effects of Covid-19 on universities in America. Having most colleges switch to online
learning in higher education, many students are struggling to find the “college experience” that they spend
tens of thousands of dollars to get, leaving most students to stay home for school. This will greatly hurt
colleges economically because of how much they depend on student housing, food services and
recreational programs to meet their financial needs . Without students coming to live at school, not only is
the college impacted but the town and local economy is greatly affected as well. In addition, many
low-income students are deciding that online school is not worth the money, so they are choosing to drop
out or defer education in order to find a job and support their families. a college town, so many businesses
and housing depend on students to fill their financial needs. So with the pandemic and lack of people
physically going to school, the economy is harmed. In the long run, many universities are expected to close,
merge with surrounding or connected universities and consolidate private colleges, greatly reducing
students’ opportunities to seek a higher education.

Provide a personal reflection here. Why is this story relevant? How does it relate to our study of government
and economics? What might this mean for the future?

Personally, this story is extremely relevant to me as a high school senior getting ready to apply for colleges
this fall. The economic systems of a college is something to think about before I apply to them, for I do not
want to go to a college that is at risk of closure or being merged. It is also important to consider how much
money I am putting into a college experience, relative to what I am getting out of it. However, on a greater
scale this story is relevant to our entire county. So much of our society is made up of college students and
learning youth, that there are so many students and students’ families being impacted by these covid
impacts. Also, if the college education quality is lacking, that will affect the future of America because so
many of the most powerful figures in this county are the way they are because of their education levels.
Meaning, if the education is not up to par, then our future leaders could unintentionally cause damage in
our communities. This article also relates to our study of economics because of the impact this college crisis
will have on different economies that we are learning about in class. For example, if nobody is moving to
their college town, local businesses and housing organizations will be severely impacted. So many small
businesses in college areas depend on the tourism from the students that the entire community will be
impacted if nobody is coming to schools. Another example relates to the principle of supply and demand. If
all these small businesses, college housing facilities, food programs and recreation organization built up
their supply in anticipation of depending on college students, there will be a massive imbalance between
available resources and how much of those resources are actually being used. In the future, this could mean
significant funding cuts and a reshaping of the college budget, impacting the college, students (and their
families) and surrounding communities.