Higher education has an important role in contributing to the creation of prosperity and alleviate poverty in society by enhancing the quality of life of the students. Past studies indicate that prosperity can be attained through the sustainability in security and development, in the sense which resources are effectively and efficiently managed for the state and its society. The creation of the state's prosperity includes the development of human capital through the platform of education. However, the Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID- 19) pandemic outbreak had disrupted higher education sector. In Malaysia, the Movement Control Order (MCO) or 'Malaysia lockdown' was declared by the authority starting from March 18, 2020, to curb the spread of COVID-19. The COVID-19 outbreak and MCO restriction disrupted the higher education stakeholders to ‘normally’ continue with their academic activities. The disruption of the academic activities has affected the students’ well-being and welfare, especially those from the bottom billion families. The main aim of the study is to obtain a preliminary understanding of the students’ experiences on their well-being and welfare during the MCO in times of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. The study was conducted during the first phase of the MCO period from 18 to 31 Marchusing multiple Phone Calls interviews. Thirty-three (33) respondents from Bottom40 families participated in the study. The study managed to gather twenty (20) variables clustered in the ‘Prosperity Quadrant for Sustainability in Security and Development during the MCO in Times of COVID-19 Pandemic' based on experiences highlighted by the respondents from B40 families. The preliminary findings obtained in the study could provide valuable insights for the decision-makersof HEIs in prioritizing their strategic short, middle and long-term planning in a time of COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. © 2020 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.