With schools bracing for extended closures due to novel coronavirus, students, like many adults, face canceled trips, postponed routines, and more time confined at home.

Our daily lives are quickly changing. From school closures to working from home, many Americans are having to adjust their day-to-day routines due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Nationally, around half of students that begin postsecondary education do not finish, but the picture the media typically paints is inaccurate. While student under-preparedness and the high cost of college are reasons for non-completion, the reality on the ground is much more nuanced.

As colleges and universities organize their responses to COVID-19, it’s a reminder that every day there are campus professionals navigating unexpected emergencies and tragedies with care to best support their communities. Emergency responders, student affairs staff, counselors, and many others are working to ensure their institutions have the information and support they need while navigating uncertainty.

As campus closures strain low-income students, undergrads at over a dozen universities have started large "mutual aid" networks and fundraisers to defray costs.

College is traditionally viewed as a time for students to focus on classwork and completing their degree before starting their careers in earnest. But a growing number of students are working during college, whether out of financial necessity, to jump-start their professional lives, or to give them a sense of purpose.

Walz and other state officials said the school closure, through March 27, is intended to allow educators to prepare for the possibility of longer-term online education.

To help limit the spread of the coronavirus, colleges are taking instruction remote. But experts say careful planning and managing expectations is key.