Digital inequality – challenges in accessing or maintaining an internet connection and functional digital devices – affected on-time graduation for U.S. college students over the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study co-authored by Rutgers researchers.
“These challenges affected educational outcomes for college students even more so than the usually cited – and more fixed – factors of being a first-generation student, or from a racial/ethnic minority background,” said Vikki Katz, a former professor of communication at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information and now professor in the School of Communication at Chapman University. Published in PLOS One, the study was co-authored by Katz, Amy Jordan, a distinguished professor of journalism and media studies and Katherine Ognyanova, associate professor of communication, both at the School of Communication and Information. To read the full story.