Harvard University announced Monday it will only allow 40% of its undergraduate students to return to campus this fall amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences announced on the university's website that first-year students and some undergraduates would be allowed to return while other students will continue to learn remotely.
Providing coronavirus cases don't surge by the spring semester, the university said it would hopefully bring back the senior class to campus next.
"Under this plan, first years would return home and learn remotely in the spring. We also will invite back to campus those students who may not be able to learn successfully in their current home learning environment," read a statement on the website.
Under new health guidelines, students living on campus will be living in single bedrooms with a shared bathroom, according to the Harvard website. Dorms and houses will undergo enhanced cleaning schedules, improved air handling and filtration in shared spaces, and have hand sanitizer and wipe stations.
Under the current fall plan, the first-year students on campus will move out before Thanksgiving and complete the rest of the semester remotely.
Classes are slated to begin at Harvard Sept. 2. The tuition costs remain unchanged.
Harvard's plan comes as the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency announced that international students will not be allowed to stay in the country if the institutions they're enrolled decide to hold online-only courses this fall. Those who fail to comply with the rules will risk deportation.
Students on F-1 and M-1 visas who face such a situation "must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status," according to the news release.
