Center for Studies in Higher Education

Graduate and professional students have reported significant hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic which they believe will negatively impact their ability to complete their degrees on-time, according to the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) Consortium survey administered from May to July 2020 of 15,346 graduate and professional students at ten universities.

Specifically, 24% of graduate and professional students expected the pandemic to delay the semester or term they intend to graduate, 35% were uncertain if the pandemic would delay their graduation, and 41% did not expect the pandemic to delay their graduation.

The top three obstacles to graduate and professional students’ degree completion include the lack of access to an appropriate study space or a distracting home environment (52%), inability to conduct research (43%), and inability to attend professional conferences (35%). 

We observed differences between the obstacles students experienced by students’ academic factors (e.g., degree type, academic program), employment, and demographics (i.e., gender, social class, caregiving status, race/ethnicity, and disability). We highlight some of the large differences in students’ obstacles by those academic factors, employment, and demographic characteristics below.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted students with physical, learning, neurodevelopmental, and cognitive disabilities who are enrolled at large public research universities, according to the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) Consortium survey administered from May to July 2020 of 30,099 undergraduate students at nine universities. Approximately 6% of respondents (n = 1,788) reported having at least one disability (physical, learning, neurodevelopmental, or cognitive). 

Students with physical, learning, neurodevelopmental, and cognitive disabilities were more likely than students without disabilities to experience financial hardships during the pandemic, including unexpected increases in spending for technology, unexpected increases in living expenses, and loss or reduction in income (from family members or personal wages from off-campus employment). Furthermore, students with disabilities were also more likely to experience food and housing insecurity compared to students without disabilities. 

Students with physical, learning, neurodevelopmental, and cognitive disabilities were less likely to believe that they feel like they belong on campus and less likely to agree that the campus supported them during the pandemic. Students with those disabilities also experienced higher rates of major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder than students without disabilities. Students with disabilities were also less likely to live in safe environments compared to students without disabilities. 

As institutional leaders continue to adapt to higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic, we encourage them to consider the impact different instructional modalities may have in perpetuating disparities for students with disabilities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant hardships for students from low-income, poor, and working-class backgrounds enrolled at large, public research universities, according to the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) Consortium survey of 30,697 undergraduate students conducted May through July 2020 at nine universities. In the survey, 7% of respondents (n = 2,112) identified as low-income or poor, 16% identified as working-class (n = 4,970), 42% identified as middle-class (n = 12,815), 32% identified as upper-middle or professional-middle class (n = 9,924), and 3% identified as wealthy (n = 876).  

The results of our study suggest that students from low-income/poor and working-class backgrounds were significantly more likely than their peers to experience financial hardships, including the loss or reduction of income from other family members, unexpected increases in living experiences and technology, the loss/cancellation of expected jobs or internships, and the loss of wages from off-campus employment.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant hardships for student caregivers enrolled at large, public research universities, according to the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) Consortium survey of 30,593 undergraduate students conducted May through July 2020 at nine universities. In the survey, 6% of respondents (n = 1,767) identified as caregivers for children, 11% of respondents (n = 3,236) identified as caregivers for other adults (age 18 and over), and 3% (n = 874) cared for both children and adults during the pandemic. Students who were caregivers for children may have been parents caring for their own children or family members (e.g., siblings). Students who were caregivers for adults may have been caring for their family members (e.g., parents, partners, spouses) or others.

One in five undergraduates (22%) and graduate and professional students (19%) enrolled at large public research universities experienced food insecurity, according to the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) Consortium survey of 31,687 undergraduate students at nine universities and 16,453 graduate and professional students from ten universities during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from the survey suggest that undergraduate, graduate, and professional students from underrepresented and marginalized backgrounds experienced significantly higher rates of food insecurity compared to their peers.

Specifically Black, Hispanic and Latinx, American Indian or Alaskan Native, and international students; low-income, poor, or working-class students; students who are caregivers to adults during the pandemic; first-generation students; and students who are transgender, nonbinary, bisexual, pansexual, or queer all experienced significantly higher rates of food insecurity during the pandemic compared to their peers.