For Ryan Sessoms, a marketing student at the University of North Florida, the transition to online classes has been rocky. It’s harder to find the motivation to complete his assignments, he says, when not surrounded by his peers. 

He's not alone. If social distancing requires colleges to keep students at home for another semester, the fallout could remake America’s higher education system, upending everything from students’ degree attainment to the economies of college towns.

The pandemic has taken away many things from 21-year-old Ben Ellgen, including the milestone moment of commencement at Winona State University. He now worries how to pay his rent and make payments on nearly $40,000 in student loans.

Adding insult to injury, the $1,200 stimulus check that will aid millions of Americans in these trying times will not arrive in Ellgen’s mailbox.

College students across the country—including more than 425,000 in Minnesota—stand to lose out on the emergency relief payments if they are claimed as dependents. Most college students shoulder steep expenses, from student loan debt to housing leases that can’t be broken, even in a pandemic. Many students have lost their jobs, and some are on the verge of food insecurity.