The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Higher Education in the US

Abstract

Higher education in the United States is the best in the world according to most quantitative and qualitative indicators. Universities in the United States, along with those in the United Kingdom, attract the best students not only from Europe but around the world including the most populous countries and growing economies such as China, India, Brazil or Indonesia. At the same time, renowned professors and researchers mostly work in the United States, given the excellent working and research conditions. However, the strength of American universities is, at the same time, their weakness in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic. Most universities are private universities that depend entirely on the market, donations, and mostly student tuition. The epidemic has exacerbated the problem of marketing education in the United States, bearing in mind that most students are reconsidering the continuation of schooling due to economic uncertainty that the epidemic brings and uncertain labour market. Focusing on the case study of Northwestern University, the text is analyzing the economic and social consequences of the epidemic on higher education in the United States, as well as possible ways to overcome it.