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Student loan debt neared $1.6 trillion in the United States, Forbes reported in February. The financial burden of public and private education impacts millions of Americans each year and can be exacerbated when classes are failed and scholarships are lost. A recent College Finance article reported that Pell Grants and financial aid packages are at risk when a class is failed or an academic standard is not met.

This fall semester, during a challenging academic season with the COVID-19 pandemic, GV posted a higher rate of students with a D or an F at midterms according to a student success report sent out to faculty this fall. In total, Grand View had 513 students with one or more low grades, which was a 27% increase over a typical semester. Additionally, the number of students with three or more low grades in 2020 increased by 184% reaching a total of 106 students. Could these numbers be attributed to a stressful 2020 with a pandemic altering all of our lives? Or is it a product of asynchronous learning?

$1.6 trillion looms large over the United States when it comes to former students dealing with debt. For current students, debt or financial struggles loom in the form of lost scholarships for athletics and academics. The NAIA requires athletes to maintain a 2.0 GPA throughout their academic and athletic career to compete. Not only must they maintain a 2.0 GPA but athletes must also have passed at least 36 credit hours of class during their first three semesters. These are manageable expectations for athletes, but during a pandemic and while using the HyFlex model, many athletes may have found themselves in the third of the student body battling low grades. Asynchronous learning could be a key factor.

Asynchronous learning is defined as a style of education that allows for remote learning through class recordings and online submissions that do not coincide with a class period. GV offered an asynchronous option this fall that is a part of the HyFlex system. The HyFlex system also offers synchronous online learning and traditional in-person classrooms. This was seen as a necessary and effective approach by many at GV.

Kevin Gannon is a history professor and the director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at GV.

“Without something like this, we wouldn’t be able to do college,” Gannon said. “HyFlex seemed to offer the best option to let students still progress in their classes regardless of whether they were able to be physically present on campus.”

Asynchronous learning is a necessity for 2020, but does it create the best option for student success at GV?

“Asynchronous learning requires a particular kind of literacy or investment from both students and professors, and if they do not have it, it’s definitely going to be a more complicated experience,” said Joshua Call, an English professor at GV. “Beyond that, it also requires a certain level of access to hardware and software. I have students who are trying to take class asynchronously and doing all of the writing on a cellphone; that is not ideal.”

If asynchronous learning is a necessity for GV but one that also presents problems, what changes are coming in the spring semester?

Students will need to apply for the asynchronous option while presenting a valid reason for choosing asynchronous learning over synchronous for the semester.

“The asynchronous option will still be there, but that’s going to be something instructors and students will have to come to an agreement on (in terms of its use),” Gannon said. “We’re really trying to emphasize the synchronous piece whether it’s in a physical classroom or synchronously online.”