Colleges and universities have become grifters during the coronavirus pandemic, as we’ve written before. Now, even worse, their greed could cost lives by fueling a big new wave of infections.

They faced a dilemma as the fall semester approached. No protocols could plausibly be expected to stop college students getting together with one another. And dorms don’t have sufficient room for social distancing. Outbreaks of COVID-19 were inevitable. But colleges desperately wanted to continue charging exorbitant tuition fees and knew they couldn’t do that entirely with online learning. What parent would shell out upwards of $70,000 for their children to live at home and watch video lectures that can be bought elsewhere for a fraction of the cost?