EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University is going online for the fall and is encouraging students to stay home, the school’s president announced Tuesday, as schools across the nation struggle to control coronavirus outbreaks.
Classes had been scheduled to begin Sept. 2 on the school’s East Lansing campus.
“Given the current status of the virus in our country — particularly what we are seeing at other institutions as they re-populate their campus communities — it has become evident to me that, despite our best efforts and strong planning, it is unlikely we can prevent widespread transmission of COVID-19 between students if our undergraduates return to campus,” President Samuel L. Stanley said in a news release on the university’s website.
The move to online learning is just for undergraduate students at the moment. The colleges of Law, Human Medicine, Nursing, Osteopathic Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and all graduate programs will receive details at a later time, according to the university.
Tuesday’s action by Michigan State follows the decision by Notre Dame officials to go online for two weeks and an announcement Monday by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to switch to remote learning starting Wednesday.
The University of Michigan says it plans to offer a mixture of in-person and remote classes. Not all courses will be available in every format, the school said on its website.
Most students will be able to choose whether to return to Ann Arbor for a hybrid learning experience or study from home in a fully remote mode.
The university’s Ann Arbor campus will open its residence halls for housing and dining.