For many residential colleges, the eagerness to return to “normal” following the pandemic coincides with a growing demand from some students for virtual learning.

While adult learners have long preferred such flexibility, more 18- to 24-year-olds also want online courses—as well as hybrid courses, where they can attend a class in-person one day and virtually the next. Some are disabled students; others are students with jobs or caretaking responsibilities.

A proposed ban by the U.S. Department of Education to limit when colleges and universities can withhold a student’s transcript could help thousands of students, if not more than a million, access their credits and resume their college education, experts and advocates say.

The move comes as more states are restricting colleges and universities from withholding transcripts when a student owes money to the institution. The proposed federal ban, however, would only apply in some cases.

What’s the best way to help community college students who want a four-year degree?

If legislators in California approve a universal guaranteed admissions program, transfer students will, for the first time, have access to all nine campuses in the University of California system. That includes three of the most selective schools: UCLA, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, San Diego.