We Weren’t Thinking About College but Just Surviving: Reengaging COVID-Disconnected College Students in Newark, NJ

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 5:10 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in Higher Education (Table 8)

Abstract

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, colleges/universities must re-evaluate their strategies regarding enrollment management and student support services. Postsecondary institutions have lost nearly 1.3 million students since spring 2020. New Jersey colleges/universities lost a greater percentage of students than the national average. In this qualitative study, we explore the barriers to enrollment for COVID-disconnected college students in Newark, NJ. While many of the youth that we spoke with are interested in attending college or some form of postsecondary education, they are facing a variety of factors such as financial difficulties, social emotional factors and mindsets that college is not for them that make it challenging to enroll and persist. Their disconnection worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Authors

• Elisabeth Kim, Lehman College

• Bernard Lombardi, Rutgers University - Newark