Results of poll conducted by the Princeton student government
Nearly two thirds of students at Princeton University responded to a recent campus survey that they “would seriously consider” taking a leave of absence if the Ivy League institution does not return for on-campus classes in the fall.
Reported by The Daily Princetonian, the undergraduate student government conducted the survey in early May, polling almost half of the student body, of which 63.4 percent said they would consider a leave of absence if the institution continues to deliver its classes online.
Princeton, as with colleges across the country, suspended in-person instruction and closed its campus following the coronavirus outbreak.
The survey question was one of many posed to students regarding the effect of the coronavirus on student life and academics. A majority of students also favored an optional pass/fail grading system if the fall semester took place online.
From the Princetonion’s report:
Earlier this month, however, Dean of the College Jill Dolan confirmed that the University could not guarantee immediate return to students who take gap years this fall. As an online fall semester becomes increasingly probable, colleges across the country are bracing for a surge of students seeking to take a year off.
The survey results, released on Saturday, were based on 2,237 total responses and included student feedback on a wide range of issues regarding the COVID-19 crisis’ impact on academics and student life. Each survey question was optional, so each had a different number of total respondents. The University’s total undergraduate population is 5,428 students.
Some of the potential gap year plans students shared in the survey included internships, paid work, remote research, independent study, online courses at other institutions, preparing for graduate school entrance exams like the GRE and the MCAT, volunteering, personal projects, hiking, biking, traveling, and visiting family abroad.
MORE: Incoming freshmen urged to take gap year as COVID-19 uncertainty looms
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