Graduate students significantly more concerned than undergraduates about returning to campus in the era of COVID-19

Introduction As students return to colleges and universities in the fall of 2020, it is important to understand their perception of risk and their desire for in person versus online learning, which may differ between undergraduate and graduate students. Methods We anonymously surveyed 212 undergraduate and 134 graduate students in the College of Public Health, and 94 graduate students in the College of Education in late June, 2020. We asked them Likert style questions regarding their comfort returning to campus and their preferred learning strategies once back. We compared “Strongly agree/Agree” with “Neutral/Disagree/Strongly disagree” using a chi-square test. Results Graduate students were significantly less likely to look forward to being on campus (38.3% doctoral vs 40.6% master’s vs 77.7% undergraduate, p < 0.001), more likely to perceive themselves as high risk (43.3% doctoral vs 40.0% masters vs 17.5% undergraduate, p < 0.001), and were more likely to prefer all classwork online (66.7% doctoral vs 44.6% master’s vs 20.8% undergraduate, p < 0.001). Graduate students were also less likely to prefer to be in the classroom as much as possible in the fall (59.2% doctoral vs 67.7% master’s vs 74.5% undergraduate, p < 0.001). Most were not concerned about their ability to conduct research. Students generally supported wearing of facemasks indoors. Conclusions There are important differences in perception of risk and desire for online versus in-person learning between undergraduate and graduate students. Faculty and administrators must acknowledge and address these differences as they prepare for return to campus in the fall.