The coronavirus pandemic has instituted mandatory online education across Japan and many parts of the world. Using a semi-structured interview, we collected and analyzed students' reactions to online education across high-rank, mid-rank, and low-rank universities in Japan to determine learning outcomes among undergraduates with different pre-existing learning engagements. Our analysis revealed that online education proved effective on students with pre-existing learning engagement outside of class, which in compliance with prior research, only students at high-rank universities were found to possess. Therefore, we inferred that the implementation of online education has been successful at high-rank universities but not at others. This study refutes that the gap in learning outcomes between different university levels occurring as a result of the mandatory shift in the online education is a legitimate phenomenon. This study would serve as a new perspective and evidence for future discussions on equity in higher education.