COVID-19 tests, online classes, socially distanced dorms. This fall, students, parents, faculty, and administrators will experience college literally like never before. But what will going to school in Boston look like five, 10, or even 15 years from now? What are the higher-education industry’s toughest challenges and reasons for hope?

Five Boston-area college leaders peer into their crystal ball—and what they see might surprise you.

As students return to college campuses this month, several higher ed leaders have already criticized them for violating pandemic health policies with “selfish and reckless behavior.”

A new report from the American College Health Association takes a different view of the situation. It makes the case that many college students are “vulnerable” to health and safety threats right now, and it calls on student affairs and college health officials to protect them.

Purdue University's Mitch Daniels made the case as far back as April that reopening Purdue amounted to a civic duty. Since then, Daniels has become a national face of higher ed’s hopes to return to the classroom.

This week, his plans are being put to the test.