Conceptual photo illustration of a young person looking toward a closing door
Vanessa Solis/Education Week and Getty
College & Workforce Readiness Collection

COVID-19 and the Class of 2021

Education Week in 2020 began tracking academically promising high school graduates to see how they fared after COVID-19 disrupted their senior year, isolating many them from friends, teachers, and college counselors. In these articles, we check in on the Class of 2021 as the pandemic drags on, finding that in many ways their challenges are even greater than the previous cohort’s, and we check back in on a few 2020 grads.

Conceptual illustration of young adults in limbo
Vanessa Solis/Education Week and Klaus Vedfelt/DigitalVision/Getty
College & Workforce Readiness From Our Research Center Class of COVID: 2021's Graduates Are Struggling More and Feeling the Stress
COVID-19 disrupted the class of 2020’s senior year. A year later, the transition to college has in some ways gotten worse.
Alex Harwin & Sarah D. Sparks, October 18, 2021
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7 min read
Conceptual Illustration of young person sitting on top of a financial trend line.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week and Klaus Vedfelt/DigitalVision<br/>
College & Workforce Readiness From Our Research Center Helping Students Plan How to Pay for College Is More Important Than Ever: Schools Can Help
Fewer and fewer high school graduates have applied for federal financial aid for college since the pandemic hit.
Sarah D. Sparks, October 18, 2021
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4 min read
Harvard University freshman Daniela Andrade on campus October 12, 2021 in Cambridge, Mass.
Harvard University freshman Daniela Andrade takes a break between classes earlier this fall at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.
Angela Rowlings for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness 2021 Grad Builds Peer Support for College Planning
College-going clubs can support first-generation students, says Daniela Andrade, whose own high school club helped her get to Harvard.
Sarah D. Sparks, October 18, 2021
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2 min read
Magdalina Estiverne poses for a portrait at her home in Orlando, Fla., on October 2, 2020. Estiverne graduated from high school in the spring of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Orlando, Fla., student Magdalena Estiverne poses for a portrait in 2020, four months after her high school graduation.
Eve Edelheit for Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness Layoffs, COVID, Spotty Internet: A Fla. Student Persists in College
Bouts with COVID-19 were just the latest challenges to face class of 2020 graduate Magdalena Estiverne and her family.
Alex Harwin, October 18, 2021
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2 min read
Logan Balfantz
Logan Balfantz
Courtesy of Sarah Kubinski
College & Workforce Readiness Louisiana Student Finds Stability Amid Tumultuous Freshman Year
Logan Balfantz arrived at the University of Notre Dame last fall considering himself one of the lucky graduates in 2020.
Sarah D. Sparks, October 18, 2021
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3 min read

View Last Year's Project

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College & Workforce Readiness Collection Where Are They Now? COVID-19 and the Class of 2020
A worsening economy, a surging pandemic, and school disruptions create new hurdles on the road to college.
October 21, 2020

Coverage of the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need is supported in part by a grant from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, at www.jkcf.org. Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage.