Brave new world: As lockdowns

Brave new world:

As lockdowns redefined the landscape for education, a new landscape is emerging

As goes the nation, so goes South Jersey. Or maybe it’s the other way around. As the Union’s most denselypopulated state, New Jersey plays an outsized role in the nation’s educational system — it is among the country’s largest exporters of students at the higher education level — and, as a result, trends happening here can have implications elsewhere.

Nothing in 2020-2021 was left untouched by the pandemic and this is resoundingly true for the education sector. Across the region, the lockdowns redefined how this essential service operated, with schools closed and classes going remote, or with a drastically reduced capacity as critical safety measures were installed. How schools respond to these shocks will reverberate through the coming years. Both the positive, such evolved education techniques, and the negative, including budget shortfalls, will likely be forces that South Jersey educators will have to grapple with. It is largely understood that there are tough times ahead for the higher education world, with many industry experts predicting that schools and programs may see an increase in mergers just to survive.

Despite the problems, it is an exciting time for the education sector in South Jersey. Assuming the vaccination program continues apace (and New Jersey is one of the most vaccinated states in the country), analysts are predicting a post-pandemic economic boom. And as many perceived notions fall to the wayside, the region is certainly well-placed to take advantage of a new economic model in education, which includes elements like remote learning.

Adding to its advantages, South Jersey is in close proximity to the major metropolitan areas of the mid-Atlantic and the tri-state area, there are scores of higher education institutions and a wealth of high-skill industries. A path forward is being forged, and it is sure to be innovative and consequential. Education in South Jersey is heading to a bold new place.

Landscape The lockdown put in place in March 2020 upended education in South Jersey. At the higher education level, schools faced an alarming budget crunch as revenues declined and operating costs increased. Nationally, colleges were hit hard by the pandemic, with a 16.1% drop in enrollment in fall 2020. Already under considerable financial strain (it is estimated that, at a state school, one student going through one academic ( )