Survey: College Students Want To Return To Campus

A recent survey of nearly 2,500 college students throughout the United States reveals how COVID-19 has impacted them, including their sentiment about remote learning and more.

Conducted by student housing developer, Core Spaces, the survey was emailed to students residents at 19 Core Spaces properties across 12 cities in 11 states. Responses were collected from June 2 to June 9.

“These important survey results speak to a wide range of ways the pandemic has impacted our young people,” says Marc Lifshin, founder and chief executive officer of Core Spaces, in a press release. “Their responses provide valuable insight into how college students are hurting and what they want. More than ever, it's crucial we do our best to make sure their housing is a welcoming and safe place.”

Some of the key findings from the survey are: 

- Nearly 90% of respondents said they want to come back to campus when classes begin this fall.

- More than 72 percent of respondents would like to get back to their universities even if the schools continue online instruction in the fall.

- More than 58% of respondents said online classes had been a negative experience for them. 

- Nearly eight out of 10 said they feel they'd be more successful studying remotely in their apartments vs. their family’s homes. 

- Nine in 10 respondents were either "very confident" (46.6%) or "somewhat confident" (43.4%) that their universities would take appropriate and available measures to help protect them and other students from spreading the virus.

In total, there were 2,490 respondents from 19 Core Spaces properties in 12 cities and 11 states. The majority of these universities could be considered major universities. 

“There are so many unknowns around COVID-19," says Lifshin. “We, along with other student housing providers, need to do all we can to reduce the stress that students are feeling and increase their sense of comfort. We plan on offering a mindfulness and meditation program to our 15,000 residents starting late August – this same program had a positive impact on our own staff. We're also rolling out a wide variety of measures to consistently sanitize our buildings and continue to protect our residents.”