Colleges face student lawsuits seeking refunds after coronavirus closures
The reason there is such a large premium for on-campus education versus online universities is because on-campus education is an <i>experience</i> as much as it is a service.<p>If you&#x27;re only interested in mastering the content, then online learning may be the place for you.  That&#x27;s why we see so many people pursuing online courses for their master&#x27;s degrees and when they return to school later in life.  They just want the content; they don&#x27;t need (or have time for) the on-campus experience aspect of college.<p>The on-campus college experience encompasses so much more than just acquiring knowledge based on what&#x27;s taught in class.  It&#x27;s dorm life, it&#x27;s extracurriculars, it&#x27;s meeting people and forming friendships and hanging out with them outside of class time.  It&#x27;s being in a place where there are so many interesting people to meet.  It&#x27;s being in a relatively forgiving environment where practically everyone is figuring out how to live on their own (or with roommates) for the first time.  Being physically present in that environment is a key draw.<p>For me, the VAST majority of the value I got out of my on-campus education was the stuff that happened outside of class time.  And I&#x27;m not even talking about the friendships or the networking or the fun.  I&#x27;m talking about my actual education.  For instance, I learned a lot more about journalism by working for the campus newspaper than from classroom instruction.  And I don&#x27;t think that atmosphere or energy can be easily recreated virtually.<p>I say that, by the way, as a remote worker who has had to spend a lot of time convincing managers and higher-ups that yes, remote workers can be as productive and energized as in-office workers.  Remote workers are generally happier when they&#x27;re not looking to their job to supply all of their social needs.  But an on-campus experience is much more all-encompassing in terms of what needs and desires it fulfills for post-adolescents.