As the spring semester comes to close following a swift transition to remote and online learning, the anxiety of the last two months has begun to give way to deeper, existential worries regarding what the future might hold for universities this summer and next semester.

Some universities have begun or are close to announcing changes for the coming summer term, including a continued focus on online learning. In the architecture realm, for example, online-heavy Boston Architectural College recently announced an online-only summer schedule slated to start July 6th. Other schools, whose summer intensive design initiatives act as critical feeder programs to traditional academic year enrollment, will follow suit with their own plans soon. 

But the big, looming question for schools of all types and sizes is this: What’s happening for the fall semester?

The likelihood that social distancing initiatives will have to continue into the near future, for as long as two years by some estimates, means that campus life is unlikely to return to normal anytime soon. And while some schools have reportedly considered pushing back the start of the fall semester to January 2021, at least two universities—Harvard and University of Pennsylvania—have publicly announced plans for a fall 2020 start. 

This week, Harvard University Provost Alan M. Garber remarked, according to The Harvard Crimson, that “A range of scenarios has been and will continue to be evaluated for the fall, from fully restored on-campus activities – a “normal” return to campus – to delaying the opening of the University until next spring semester.” Despite those potential contingencies, Garber explains, “Yet for us the most important decision is a clear one: Harvard will be open for fall 2020.”

U Penn President Amy Gutmann recently made similar remarks in an email sent to students of the university, writing, “In-person engagement is a critical part of what we do. We are a community of scholars, where students and faculty creatively interact in our classrooms and labs on what is one of the most vibrant and remarkable campuses on earth,” according to The Daily Pennsylvanian. Gutmann added, “We are committed to finding the best ways to bring everyone back together on our campus.”

In both cases, it appears that a blend of online and perhaps even in-person classes could take place, with some administrators offering that an inverse of this semester’s trajectory might shape up. Under this still-in-the-works vision, classes could start online in September and transition toward IRL formats if conditions improve. 

Either way, with enrollment expected to decline this coming year, as CNBC reports, and students of all sorts facing a wide array of problems—including foreign students having visa issues, low-income students struggling with housing and relocation, and graduates and doctoral students entering a job market defined by near-universal hiring freezes, to name but a few of the issues—the year ahead is likely to be a bumpy one for universities and their students.