Findings from the National Association of Colleges and Employers Survey

We are grateful to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) for conducting an important new survey about how college career offices are adapting in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

A total of 595 colleges participated in the survey. Here is a summary of some of the results:

  • 25% of career centers report no change in their budgets.
  • 16% have seen their budgets decrease by more than 10%.
  • 50% have implemented spending freezes.
  • 56% report no change in staffing levels.
  • 37% report they have implemented hiring freezes, and furloughs appear to be slowly increasing.

Yet Career Centers Are Still Serving their Students

The NACE survey found that college career centers are still interacting with their students via phone calls to them (reported by 78% of respondents) and live sessions on social media (64%).

However, 55% of the career centers polled reported that they have not yet decided whether or not they will hold career fairs this fall.

An Overall Climate of Uncertainty

Sixty-one percent of the institutions that responded to the NACE survey reported that they are still undecided about whether they will make scheduling changes in the 2020-21 academic year, and 36% reported that they are not planning to make changes. (In other words, they expect students to arrive on campus and have a “normal” college experience this year.)

While we certainly hope that students will have a normal and healthy on-campus experience during the coming academic year, will that really happen? As we write today’s post, it is early June, and much of America still remains on lock-down.

This is a time of terrible uncertainty for students, families, college faculties and employees, and everyone else who has a stake in American higher education.

This summer will go down in history as one of the most uncertain and unsettling times in the history of higher education. We, like you, are hoping that the situation normalizes soon.

We Invite You to Explore All Your College and Career Options. . .

Share your views about what it takes to find the right path to college and to select a career. Participate in this year’s National College & Career Pathway Study and receive information on college and career opportunities that match your interests.

 

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