Copyright The New York Times
Colleges and universities across the country are under extreme pressure, financially and politically. Their students are feeling stressed out, too. Students are juggling not just homework, but often jobs and families. Artificial intelligence is changing how they study and how they are taught. Seniors worry about being sent into an uncertain world after graduation. On top of everything else, students fret about the political turmoil swirling around them. And some are lonely. The New York Times traveled to campuses around the country and spoke in phone interviews with over 60 students, including undergraduates and graduate students. At community colleges, public universities and private colleges, students talked about how changes happening in higher education and in society more broadly are affecting them. Many said there’s a lot to love about college: kindhearted professors and new friends, having access to health care, the thrill of learning every day. Most said they had no doubt their degree would be worth the cost of tuition.
