Online and on-campus transfer students experienced different impacts from the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic caused extensive disruption to higher education, highlighting the negative impacts of emergency shift online instruction. As a result, advantages intentionally designed, programs in education were overshadowed during pandemic. Furthermore, socioeconomic disparities exacerbated which extended STEM undergraduate transfer students, who are more likely be low-income, from historically underrepresented groups, older, and first generation their family attend college. To better understand impact on undergraduates, including those an designed program, ordinal regression analysis 352 student survey respondents enrolled life sciences major at large, R1 institution United States spring 2020 through fall 2021 was performed. Three types compared: on-campus, first-time college (FTIC); on-campus (OC-TR); (ONL-TR) students. latter group receives all course delivery online, whereas groups received predominately in-person prior ONL-TR students over six times less report educational compared FTIC OC-TR, while controlling for parent income, gender, race/ethnicity, GPA. Additional items further explored this result validated with academic records thematic students’ text responses. A pre−/post-pandemic comparison revealed that maintained similar load GPA, despite increased perceptions lower GPA OC-TR two express concern related delayed graduation frequency feeling stress Meanwhile, low-income stressors due pandemic’s daily life, independent type. Taken together, program resilient emotional differences between warn against generalization suggest research into positive role learning, not just content expanding access, but stability different populations.