Unless house is in an area that is impossible to rent most months or you need to align with college semester terms, requiring continuing year leases is just a money grab, IMHO. 

Amherst, MA:  75% of the town's economy depends on student matriculation; if matriculation is cut off for an entire semester, the town will be depressed economically and it will hit real estate hard. 

The tangible property regs are dense enough to devote an entire college semester class to. 

Some of the parents are asking if the students would be allowed to back out of the lease if their college decides that the fall semester will be held online. 

Take 4 courses a semester to maintain full-time status (there are numerous benefits to that status), get a RE license as soon as possible, and start making networking inroads.

And what do you expect your vacancy rate to be with all colleges being remote for the fall semester to include UT Austin where 20% of its classes will be fully remote?

Although this is hunger, he meant in a wider term, such as a car for high school, new shoes, not having to worry whether you could pay for the next semester of college, having just a grey and a brown suit for your first white collar job.Most of my posts, I always start or end with "Start Small and make your Big Mistakes early".I think this might be why I haven't heard from these folks. 

I'm taking out a Federal Direct Subsidized loan this semester in the amount of $2,750 with the intent of paying off principal on my car loan because the interest rate is significantly better.

I would anticipate the assertion that colleges will go "virtual" as a stop-gap effort to get the public on board  to start up the semester amidst categorical chaos and opaqueness. 

ASU is currently planning to have in-person classes for the fall semester (so long as there isn't another spike in cases or anything unexpected).