A new podcast tackles the unprecedented challenges posed to higher education by the pandemic and recession, with a particular focus on lower-income students.

Episode One features a discussion of how colleges and universities are scrambling to distribute roughly $6.3 billion from the federal government for emergency aid aimed at students whose lives and educations have been disrupted.

These days, college leaders are thinking ahead to autumn and developing plans for how to proceed if the current health crisis fades by summer’s end—or if it persists.

To prepare for a possible reopening, the University of Central Oklahoma is constructing plexiglass walls in the building where students register for classes and placing tape to mark how much space students should maintain from each other. Nearby, the University of Oklahoma is considering three possible scenarios: return to regular classes in the fall, delay them until the spring, or offer courses online both semesters.