The COVID-19 global pandemic has turned the higher education world upside down by forcing universities to convert their in-person programs into a remote mode. The University of San Francisco (USF) has not been an exception and has completely switched to virtual instruction and has shut down the campus facilities for the entire educational year 2020-21. While these changes have been inevitable to ensure the students' health, the tuition and fees that the students are paying have not been adjusted proportionally to the value that we are receiving. The students are very disappointed about USF not fulfilling their expectations during the remote Fall semester (extended to the Spring semester). For the following reasons, we need the university to lower the tuition and fees (several universities already have done this for the Fall semester) and offer a partial refund for those severely affected by remote learning.

USF tuition and fees have always been higher than its equivalent counterparts. The students were willing to pay the extra amount due to the opportunities that the proximity to Silicon Valley and living in SF provided them. Most students, especially those in STEM and tech-related programs, have chosen USF to be able to develop connections, grow their network by being close to big companies, participating in in-person meet-ups, job fairs, workshops, conferences and have face-to-face encounters with recruiters to increase their chances of finding a promising position in their dream company. However, the situation has changed due to COVID-19 as the programs became online. Almost all nearby companies have adopted remote working; we are in the midst of one of the biggest global economic crises in history. Finding jobs and internships has become significantly more challenging than before. Some students have left their jobs in other states to attend USF to find a better job in Silicon Valley, and now they cannot even find an internship that pays as much as their previous jobs. Thus, being present in SF is no longer advantageous to students when none of the aforementioned resources are available to them.

The situation for first-year students like me has been much harder. We began our semester this Fall, not being able to visit our classmates in person and see the campus even once. The students have been struggling with not being able to connect with other students, participating in group studies, joining the student clubs, etc. Despite the university's effort to recompense for the lost value caused by the current situation by arranging webinars, virtual job fairs, and zoom gatherings, it has not been successful in creating a sense of community among us and provide an environment where students can grow their networks and make connections. We feel left alone and isolated in our homes, scattered all around the world, each struggling with our unique situation. At this point, many of us are wondering about the difference between an online degree and what we are getting now. Honestly nothing! Except that we are paying much more and at best receiving the same education as an online degree. We could have chosen an online degree from a top-ranked university and pay even less.

The hardships that students are going through are not limited to what has been mentioned. The most affected students are the internationals who have not been able to get a US visa due to the current policies and attend the classes from their home countries with different time zones. Some students have to participate in classes from 2AM till 5AM (and other inconvenient times) and their sleeping patterns have been disrupted which can cause them lots of physical as well as mental distress and affect their productivity and learning. It is also worth mentioning that the currency value in lots of non-US countries has tremendously dropped due to economic collapse. The students might not be able to afford the current tuition anymore. Most international students present in the US do not even have work permits due to their visa restrictions. The job market hardships also apply to US students who have lost their jobs or sources of income and are going through financial trouble. 

This is not to say we do not value professors, USF Staff and the president's efforts as we know they are doing their best; what we are addressing is that no matter how hard USF tries, the nature of online learning doesn't provide what students expect from an in-person education. There are reasons why we pay more to participate in an in-person program. On top of all the incentives above, lots of us need to be on campus and study in libraries or other facilities to focus. Many of us live in unsuitable environments for studying, which makes it harder to do well on quizzes and exams. We have experienced internet disruptions during the online classes, which caused us not to understand the material despite being present for the classes. Professors have encountered technical difficulties that affected their teaching or prevented them from recording sessions multiple times. Therefore, if we have bad internet, we cannot even rely on the recorded sessions.

We have put up with all these difficulties in hopes of returning to campus for the Spring semester, and now we know this is not going to happen. Every day more and more students are thinking about dropping out. USF might argue that they need the same amount of tuition to cover the university expenses. Well, we also need what we have expected from USF to be fulfilled, which is not happening. We are paying much more for what we are receiving. The USF prides itself on providing Jesuit education, which means "Care for the individual person." We expect this beautiful claim to be manifested in practice. This is a unique time in the history of the world and requires unique actions. We ask the USF's president to have compassion for the students and act like what they claim to be and reduce the Spring's tuition and fees and issue partial refunds for what we didn't receive in remote learning if they care about individuals and educational equality.