We Want You Back: Uncovering the Effects on In-Person Instructional Operations in Fall 2020

Area of Science:

• Higher Education Policy
• Public Health
• Political Science

Background:

• Postsecondary institutions faced unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Early research indicated partisanship heavily influenced decisions on in-person instruction, potentially overshadowing pandemic severity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the multifaceted factors influencing postsecondary institutions' decisions regarding in-person instruction for Fall 2020.
• To analyze the relative impact of sociopolitical features, COVID-19 rates, and economic factors on institutional instructional modalities.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the College Crisis Initiative.
• Employed a multiple group structural equation modeling approach.
• Examined relationships between in-person instruction and state/county sociopolitical features, COVID-19 rates, and state revenue losses, with separate analyses for institutional sectors.

Main Results:

• County Political Preferences emerged as the strongest predictor of in-person instruction across all institutions.
• Pandemic Severity and State Sociopolitical Features also significantly influenced decisions, with varying impacts across institutional types.
• Four-year public institutions showed the strongest link to State Sociopolitical Features, while four-year private and two-year public institutions were more sensitive to County Political Preferences and Pandemic Severity.

Conclusions:

• Sociopolitical factors, particularly county-level political leanings, played a more substantial role in Fall 2020 in-person instruction decisions than previously understood.
• While COVID-19's severity was a significant factor, its influence was often mediated by political and social contexts.
• Institutional sector (e.g., 4-year public vs. private) significantly moderated the impact of these diverse factors on instructional modality decisions.