Although life is gradually returning to normal, the country is still bleeding profusely from the financial and economic laceration created by the pandemic. Fear reigns as many states continue to witness an exponential rise in the number of new COVID-19 cases.
With many colleges and universities ordering their fresh and returning students to resume, concerns have been raised by students and parents alike on whether most of these institutions have put in place reasonable safety measures to curtail the spread of the deadly virus.
If you recently gained admission, and have been notified to resume, you may be wondering if it is possible to defer your admission due to the coronavirus without risking your admission being revoked by the school authority. In this article, you will learn what your options are and how to approach things.
The coronavirus pandemic is a wakeup call to the nation’s policymakers, politicians, and other stakeholders in the education sector to begin to work towards normalizing virtual learning in a way that doesn’t reduce the standard of education.
Having adequate facilities needed for effective online classes would have made it easier for schools and colleges to continue to provide education to students without needing to ask them to resume at such a precarious time when the numbers of COVID-19 have continued to rise in many states.
This is an extraordinary time and everyone needs to abide by the guidelines set by the Center for Disease Control And Prevention as the authorities ramp up efforts to halt the spread of the virus. Understanding the potential risk of exposure to the virus due to in-person schooling, you may be considering deferring your admission until 2021 when scientists believe safe, and proven vaccines would have been available to the general public.
Why Do Schools Rescind Admission Offers?
- Most schools reserve the right to revoke admission offers at their own discretion if the student acted in violation of the rules and regulation of the school. The reason or justification for rescinding the offer may be upheld by courts as long as the decision wasn’t colored by racial prejudice or other forms of discrimination.
Some of the common reasons for rescinding admission include failure of the student to maintain the required minimum of grade or serious disciplinary issues that occur between the time when the admission was offered and the commencement of the student’s attendance at the school.
- In addition, a student can have their admission revoked if it is found out that they supplied false, or inaccurate information on their application. Students with past records of racist behaviors or leanings exposed online also risk admission withdrawal.
In early June, Marquette University, a private Catholic school in Milwaukee announced that it has rescinded both its admission offer and athletic scholarship to a white student who wrote on Snapchat, “It’s OK to kneel on someone’s head”
- Given that the premises of the action are legal and just, a university can rescind their admission anytime in the course of a student’s study. In 2017, the University of California at Irvine was reported to have rescinded students’ acceptance of hundreds of students for allegedly not submitting their final transcripts. However, the school management later admitted the university’s over-enrollment at the time played a role in their decision.
What’s The Way Forward?
- The first step you want to take is find out if your school has such a provision for deferral. You should get helpful information from your school’s FAQ page on their coronavirus response.
Some schools like University of Illinois are permitting their students to request a deferral due to the pandemic. Meanwhile, the universities will likely review the requests case-by-case to decide if the circumstantial information provided merits consideration.
- Schools revoke admissions for different reasons. The justification for withdrawal of admission offers depends largely on the policies of each individual school administration. However, you are less likely going to have your admission revoked because of your decision to defer. You can get better clarification on this from your school website.