PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University students will not be in Pullman for the upcoming fall semester and the announcement is throwing some families for a loop.
The announcement was made just weeks before students were due in Pullman for classes.
“WSU is her dream school. We’re going to stick with WSU and hopefully, in the spring she can be there in person,” said Noelle Kamaunu.
Her daughter Lilly applied to ten colleges and got into all of them but fell in love with Washington State University.
They live in Hawaii, making the move to Pullman a big one.
Lilly was excited to start classes in Pullman in August, but that excitement turned to heartbreak this week. WSU announced all undergraduate classes would be remote as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Washington and Governor Jay Inslee tightened restrictions on the phased approach to reopening the state.
“Initially she was disappointed, she was ready to go, but now I think she understands,” Noelle explained.
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While Lilly was upset she wouldn't be joining fellow classmates on the Palouse for school, Noelle saw it coming.
“It just didn’t seem like a risk we wanted to take, it just didn’t seem like a logical decision when we can do all of the same classes online, you know. She’s an undergrad, she’s going to be doing English, math, you know, those things. That’s easy to translate in distance.”
Many students and parents were hoping the transition to online classes would mean a cut in the price they pay for education, but University President Kirk Shultz announced in a virtual town hall meeting that tuition is staying the same.
“When people sort of think, ‘Well gee, we’re getting less of an experience so it should be less of a cost,’ It’s a different experience. We still have a lot of the same costs if not more to make sure that we’re really delivering the outlying education experiences that Cougs should and would expect,” Schultz said.
As for mandatory fees, a decision is expected by August 7, 2020.
“All of our campuses have student fees and those are typically driven by student need and student desires,” said Vice President of Student Affairs, Mary Jo Gonzales. “Student Fees have been in place for quite some time not just for buildings but for programs and activities. So, I want to make sure you know that we are all looking at that, all of our campuses are discussing that right now about what those fees will look like.
For Noelle, remote classes don’t change her assurance in the education her daughter will receive.
“I do, I feel confident that they would. Like I said, they’ve always been very open to answering questions and I wouldn’t expect anything less from professors and or academic councilors, so I feel confident.”
President Schultz said they need more time before deciding if the spring semester will continue as remote learning.
WSU satellite campuses are expected to make announcements soon on how they are planning to hold classes for the fall semester.
Randy Bolerjack, Director of Public Affairs for WSU Everett told KING 5 they plan to have most classes through remote learning but some of the more hands-on courses, like engineering, will still have some in-person classes. He added that they hope to be a support system for WSU Pullman students living in Everett who are remote learning.