Will you get a refund if COVID-19 closes your campus?

Many colleges are welcoming students back for in-person learning and dormitory living this fall semester. Looming over everything: Campuses could shut back down at any time.

With COVID-19 cases still high, many colleges are developing shutdown contingency plans alongside their reopening arrangements.

At the same time, the pandemic ignited new debate about whether colleges should charge the same tuition for online and in-person classes. Tuition typically covers the cost of instruction — salaries, software, labs and such — and that cost at many schools may have increased.

The University of North Carolina Wilmington, as an exception, has a different cost structure for online classes, hybrid and in-person classes. Still, it announced that students won’t receive a tuition refund if in-person classes move online this fall. That leaves freshman Owen Palmer weighing the possibility that the education he is paying for may not be the one he gets.

“I’m taking a risk because (the university) mentioned they can’t do refunds,” says Palmer. For him, the risk is worth it, but he does wonder what he’ll do if the campus has to close.

Here’s what he and other students can expect as the fall shapes up.

DON’T EXPECT A BREAK ON TUITION

Some schools have cut tuition. Hampton University is offering students a 15% discount, bringing undergraduate tuition to $12,519. Other schools are offering additional scholarships and grants.

But tuition decreases and additional aid aren’t the norm.

“If I had to make bets, I would say a lot of colleges will be (freezing tuition) until they get a better sense of the economy,” says Arun Ponnusamy, chief academic officer at the college admissions and application counseling company Collegewise. “But there will be other colleges that...