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Small businesses and workers in college towns are hurting as the pandemic pushes universities to go online.

The big picture: Hundreds of local economies across the country rely on the annual influx of students and professors to stay afloat. 

Businesses in college towns are 24% more likely to shutter permanently than their counterparts in other towns, per new Yelp data.

College Park, Maryland (University of Maryland), saw 4.4% of businesses close for good.

Berkeley, California (University of California, Berkeley), 4.2%.

Cambridge, Massachusetts (Harvard and MIT), 3.8%.

Go deeper: College reopening plans are crumbling

Coronavirus hits college town businesses

Businesses in college towns are 24% more likely to shutter permanently than other towns.

Harvard Square in Cambridge. Photo: Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Education

College

Business

Coronavirus

Small businesses and workers in college towns are hurting as the pandemic pushes universities to go online.The big picture: Hundreds of local economies across the country rely on the annual influx of students and professors to stay afloat.

The U.S. faces a range of health care flashpoints — unaffordable drugs, opioids, vaping — as we debate whether to adopt universal care. For now, the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land, but Republicans want to issue it a final death blow.