Student Survey: How Do Students Feel About Returning to Campus Amid the Surge of the Delta Variant?
Schools have opened their doors for the new term, but uncertainly lingers. Earlier this year, with widespread vaccine availability and lower COVID-19 case rates, many felt a cautious optimism toward a return to normalcy. Masking and social distancing became more of a suggestion or courtesy than policy. But as the summer crested toward fall, news emerged of a new, more contagious version of the virus: the Delta variant. As Delta cases surged, the FDA approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. These events have caused schools, colleges, and universities to hastily reassess their plans to safely return to on-campus learning. But how do the students feel? We asked more than 1,700 current high school seniors and 1,000 students entering their first year of undergrad about vaccines, mandates, and online coursework. Here’s what we found.
Most students are vaccinated, or they intend to be
Seventy-five percent of high school seniors and 83% of first-year college students say they’ve been vaccinated. Another 10% and 6%, respectively, say they plan to be vaccinated soon. Nine percent of high school seniors and 6% of first-year college students say they do not plan to get vaccinated, and 5% of our respondents said they haven’t decided if they’re going to get the vaccine or not.
