The abrupt transition to online instruction in the spring threw colleges’ budgets into a tailspin, as most refunded students’ room and board money.
As they prepared for the fall, however, officials at several institutions clarified they wouldn’t necessarily return these fees if the coronavirus again forced them to shut down their campuses. Even such prominent schools as the University of Maryland, College Park, instituted such a policy.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill let students out of on-campus housing contracts after it switched to online learning at the beginning of the fall semester. Yet this still left students who wanted to stay nearby but couldn’t remain on campus, and those who were locked into off-campus leases, struggling to find a place to live.
