Spectrum News: UC helps students overcome challenges after COVID crisis

The landscape in education nationwide continues to change nearly three years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. About a million fewer students are enrolling in higher education compared to before the pandemic started.

“That is staggering not just for those 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds. That’s going to be staggering for generations to come because it’s so hard to go back to college,” said Jack Miner, vice provost for enrollment management, during a recent Spectrum News interview.

UC has been able buck the trend with a proactive approach to course design, tutoring and mental health care options, Miner told Spectrum.

“One of the other things we see, though, is a different level of preparedness coming from high school to college,” Miner said.

Professors have had to re-design some courses and they’ve added a lot more tutors. 

“We’ve really integrated that into our courses in a way that other schools haven't,” Miner said. “So the stigma of reaching out for help is very different than it is someplace else and it’s really removed here.”

UC’s enrollment topped 47,914 students for the fall semester. The figure represented nearly a 2.6% increase over last year’s enrollment or an additional 1,204 students. The university has recorded nearly a decade of continuous growth.

Third-year chemistry major Reese Haskins also told Spectrum News that UC has helped to remove another stigma, too: asking for help when it comes to mental health, especially after COVID.

View the Spectrum News interview online.