Emerging from his calculus midterm this week, Ryan Meara looked every bit the part of a regular Fordham senior. Baggy sweatshirt, bleary eyes, white sneakers and a blue spiral notebook under his arm.

"At least it's over," he said. Now he could get back to his senior year extracurriculars, like road-tripping with his buddies, going to the gym and being the starting goalkeeper for the New York Red Bulls.

Four...