They may be more self-contained than elementary/middle/high schools, but by I wouldn't call them reasonably self-contained. Students don't just sit in a dorm or a classroom (well, maybe some do). Many have jobs they need to work at to afford school. Many live at home while attending class. They all socialize in various ways. They go to bars (if open) and restaurants. They all come back for breaks and if they live locally, even more frequently. etc... It's a much worse environment than attending a concert for 2 hours or going to a movie theater.
The thing about universities, they can actually pivot to remote learning and true social distancing. Even if a campus is totally closed, classes can still take place and can still be decent quality. If campuses open, it’s realistic to integrate virtual meetings and social distancing.
(Of course this does nothing to stop 20-year-olds from licking doorknobs on a dare and cramming 50 people into their beach rental. But that’s already actively happening, because 20-year-olds)
IMO, if universities were smart they’d treat this as another “virtual” year with campus housing open for students who have no other option (e.g. international, homeless). At this point faculty are actually prepared and students have some experience of how to live within that dynamic. The decision to re-open is being driven by profit centers like athletics and food service, and they’ll pay the price for that if they have to shut down again in mid-year.
Agree that elementary/middle/high will be a worse situation though. I don't have elementary/middle/high school aged kids so my post was more aimed at my own situation.
Problem with K-12 is there’s no realistic way to contain COVID there. They can say whatever they want about having new rules in place... it absolutely will not matter. A week after the first non-symptomatic carrier goes to school, the entire school will be infected. Because kids are gross and half of them are really dumb.
Something like 25% of households have K12-aged kids. Let’s say... a month after schools open, it’s a fair bet that 25% of households will be exposed. At that point, there’s no quarantine anymore.
The alternative to opening schools is to keep 25% of households locked down at least another year. A huge portion of that group is not able to do their jobs from home. The choices from that point forward look pretty grim.
Wake County provided an update last week... they still don’t know what they’re going to do in the fall. An announcement is supposed to be made in July, but there’s no good choice on the table. The worst of this is for people with vulnerable adults at home. Grandparents who are working 9-5 to raise a kindergartner? Good luck.
