NHEG-January-February2022

January - February 2022
NHEG EDGUIDE January - February 2022
I’ve made countless accommodations for students who want to avoid the vaccine mandates coming into play for all students
or staff this January by making course substitutions so they can graduate, but it impacts some of their vocational
licensure which is diminishing their ability to work post graduation.”
The effect of COVID-19 vaccine mandates on the US workforce has been well-documented by my FEE colleague Jon
Miltimore, who has written about employees in various sectors quitting their jobs over these mandates. Students in
higher education programs are also quitting over the mandates, which is particularly concerning when it involves nurses-in-training
in a healthcare sector that is already grappling with severe staffing shortages.
The community college professor I interviewed, who indicated that the majority of her students are low-income and
people of color who have been generally more resistant to getting the COVID-19 vaccine, added that for all the talk
about “equity” and “access” in these higher education programs, the vaccine mandates create enormous education
hurdles. “I would love people to recognize the hypocrisy of ‘ensuring access’ at the same time they are making literal
barriers,” she told me. She added that her students are being denied religious exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine
mandate.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2021 With all the COVID-19 mandates in place, it’s no wonder students are leaving in droves.
BY KERRY MCDONALD
Community College Enrollment Is on the Decline.
Could Vaccine Mandates Be to Blame?
This article is excerpted from LiberatED, a weekly email its students last year, and predicted losing another 2
newsletter where FEE Senior Education Fellow Kerry percent this fall. Instead, they’ve lost 20 percent this
McDonald brings you news and analysis on current education
and parenting topics. Click here to sign up.
academic year.
While the article acknowledges that community colleges
Public elementary and secondary schools aren’t the only have been confronting declining enrollments for the past
settings experiencing an ongoing enrollment drop this decade, it quotes one administrator in a large Arizona
academic year. Community colleges are also facing a community college system as “really surprised” by the
decline. Similar to K-12 public schools that lost students latest enrollment drop. The article speculates about
in 2020 and continue to lose them this academic year, possible reasons for the decrease, including broader economic
factors caused by the coronavirus response and
many community colleges are seeing a student retreat as
well.
the potential challenges of remote learning. But noticeably
absent from the article interpretation is the imposition
of COVID-19 vaccine mandates on students and staff
An Inside Higher Ed article this week delved deeper into
the community college enrollment decline, highlighting
in community colleges across the country.
a community college in Oregon that lost 14 percent of
As one assistant professor at a community college here in New England told me recently, asking for anonymity:
“Recently my school mandated vaccines for certain students less than a week before classes started causing confusion
and stress. Students reported feeling ‘ambushed’ and felt the administration intentionally did this last-minute so they
did not have time to make an informed decision about vaccines,” she said. “I’ve made countless accommodations for
students who want to avoid the vaccine mandates coming into play for all students or staff this January by making
course substitutions so they can graduate, but it impacts some of their vocational licensure which is diminishing their
ability to work post graduation.”
As one assistant professor at a community college here in New England told me recently, asking for anonymity:
“Recently my school mandated vaccines for certain students less than a week before classes started causing confusion
and stress. Students reported feeling ‘ambushed’ and felt the administration intentionally did this last-minute so they
did not have time to make an informed decision about vaccines,” she said. “
52
The Nobel Prize-winning economist F.A. Hayek warned us that the “more the state ‘plans’ the more difficult planning
becomes for the individual.” This has become increasingly apparent to Americans over the past 18 months, as COVID-
19 vaccine mandates and related government pandemic policies have disrupted individuals’ lives and livelihoods and
caused more people to rely on government dictates for direction and decision-making.
The community college students who are exiting their programs due, at least in part, to vaccine mandates, may be
leaving their higher education plans temporarily behind, but they are choosing to prioritize autonomy over coercion.
That is a lesson worth learning.
Like this story? Click here to sign up for the LiberatED newsletter and get education news and analysis like this from
Senior Education Fellow Kerry McDonald in your inbox every week.
Source: National Review
https://www.nationalreview.com
53