College Program Might Return to Disney World in 2021

The Disney College Program was a popular topic during the 2021 shareholder meeting, with CEO Bob Chapek asked several questions about DCP. In this post, we’ll share his answers and recap what has happened with the College Program over the last year. (Updated March 11, 2021.)

During the question & answer portion of the shareholder meeting, someone asked Chapek if there were any details about when students would be able to apply for the Disney College Program (DCP). He stated that while there is not a specific date or timeline yet, Disney is hoping for the DCP to return in the future once guest capacity constraints are eased.

Chapek continued, “as you know, the whole College Program was put on hold, but the College Program is a tremendous asset. Hopefully, by the end of the year, we will be back in business with our College Program, but we have no specifics we can promise right now.” That wasn’t the end of the College Program questions, though…

Another question during the Q&A asked about an extension to the College Program for applicants who “aged out” during the closure and suspension of the program. While the Disney College Program doesn’t actually have an age limit, the previous rules were that participants must be either a current student or have graduated within the past year.

To that inquiry, Chapek responded by stating that extending that eligibility criteria was an excellent suggestion. While Disney had not yet discussed this, they will look into it and make an announcement. Our guess here is that while it had not yet previously been discussed with Chapek, it has been a topic of conversation among whatever is left of the DCP leadership team. It’s the second most common questions we’ve seen about the College Program in the last year, right after “when will the College Program return?”

When Walt Disney World’s closure began a year ago, the College Program Ended & Cast Members Were Sent Home. The student housing complexes were closed and that semester’s College Program–plus the Culinary Program, Cultural Exchange Program, Academic Exchange Program, and other Disney International Programs–all ended early.

Following that, Disney Internships & Programs announced that programs scheduled to begin in early June would also be cancelled and those participants would be refunded for their program fees. This effectively cancelled the Fall Advantage Disney College Program, among other things.

Finally, Disney Internships & Programs announced last summer that the College Program was suspended until further notice at Walt Disney World. That was the last update on the fate of the College Program, which was released via this official statement:

“Walt Disney World Resort is in the process of welcoming guests back to our parks and resorts in the coming weeks as part of a phased and deliberate approach with the well-being and safety of guests and Cast Members at the forefront of our planning. We continue to act on the guidance of government and health agencies and make decisions based on their input. With that, we wanted to share an update about our Disney College Program.

We are still in the early phase of the reopening process. Many of the buildings with the Disney housing complex have remained closed and we have not yet determined when we will reopen them. With that in mind, we have made the difficult decision to continue to suspend our Disney College Program until further notice. We regretfully need to advise you that our offer of employment to you is withdrawn. Please be assured that we will refund your program fee.

We understand this is no the news you were hoping to hear and we want to assure you this decision was not made lightly. We are committed to our Disney Programs and plan to resume in the future, when the time is right. Knowing that some of you may still want to experience our Disney Programs later, we are amending our eligibility requirements, so that those who have recently graduated will be able to re-apply.

If you would be interested in a future program, please let us know by completing the information on the link provided and we will keep you updated on a future opportunity.

We greatly appreciate your passion for Disney and interest in the Disney College Program, and we look forward to the opportunity to welcome back our College Program participants in the future!

We hope you and your family stay safe.

Thank you,
Disney Internships and Programs”

This was not too surprising given that many colleges were online-only for the fall semester, keeping their dorms and other student housing complexes closed. This was in light of what we now know about the ease of transmission in close quarters with prolonged exposure, which basics makes that type of housing a petri dish.

For its part, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a number of safety measures for colleges, which include the complete closure of shared spaces like residence halls, kitchens, game rooms, gyms, and lounges if possible as these are all “highest risk” settings.

Disney College Program housing is pretty much the same deal. Even reducing capacity of the complexes significantly would still only move them to the “moderate risk” category, and that’s probably charitable in light of the reputation these complexes have for ‘festivities.’

Given that College Program participants would then have prolonged contact with other Cast Members while on the job, resuming the CP would be just begging for an employee outbreak. (While safety measures are effective at reducing spread, they don’t stop it entirely–especially with sustained and regular indoor interactions between Cast Members.) It’s a tough decision, but the responsible one by Walt Disney World.

From Walt Disney World’s perspective, this probably couldn’t have come at a worse time. Construction is wrapping up on the colossal new East Campus development, which is being built in the Flamingo Crossings area to the west of Walt Disney World property and had an estimate cost of $100 million. The first College Program participants were slated to move-in back in May–here’s an aerial look of progress.

This is phase one in a project that’s projected to cost over $600 million in total, with thousands of rooms, community centers, pools, and other amenities. Most notably, it would introduce the Disney Education Center, offering DCP participants the opportunity to engage in “uniquely Disney” learning experiences and earn up to nine credit hours in college coursework. Most of the costs of this project are backloaded, so it’ll be interesting to see whether work continues on the remaining phases. (We drive past here regularly, and it appears work remains ongoing on subsequent phases.)

All of that newly-built housing sitting mostly-empty coupled with the inexpensive student labor will be strong motivations for Walt Disney World to bring back the College Program as soon as possible. We’re a bit surprised that the goal is to bring the College Program back in 2021 (our guess would’ve been 2022), but it’s entirely possible given how quickly the travel industry has covered and the amount of pent-up demand for Walt Disney World leading into the 50th Anniversary.

Even then, local unions are likely to push back against a resumption of the Disney College Program, which has long been controversial for supplying a below-market and non-union form of disposable/renewable labor. With Walt Disney World and Central Florida as a whole having no shortage of available workers, the College Program will be met with much more resistance.

Personally, we hope the Disney College Program does resume at some point. While there are a number of valid criticisms about the College Program, it’s a good way to keep things fresh and helps avoid burnout, among other things. The College Program also has been an excellent gateway into the company for those who are passionate about Disney and its founder’s ideals.

Many College Program participants go on to become lifelong Walt Disney World Cast Members who are true assets to the parks and resorts. Even those who don’t are often among the most enthusiastic employees at Walt Disney World–those who view it as more than just another job. It’d be nice if this serves as something of a reset for the College Program, stripping it of what makes it controversial and getting the program back to its roots.

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

YOUR THOUGHTS

What do you think of the College Program? Think that it’ll resume later in 2021? Hopeful there’s an extension for those who have “aged out” of the College Program? Are you disappointed that you or your students won’t have the opportunity to participate in the College Program in the near future? Think it’s appropriate for Walt Disney World to not resume the College Program for the sake of its full time Cast Members, or is that too harsh? Any other thoughts on the DCP? Do you agree or disagree with our commentary? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!

17 Responses to “College Program Might Return to Disney World in 2021”
  1. Donna Koon May 22, 2021
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