TOLEDO, Ohio – Colleges throughout the U.S. are assuring students that the fall semester will bring a return to in-person classes, intramural sports and mostly full dormitories.
But those promises come with asterisks. Administrators say how quickly campus life comes back will depend on the success of the nation's COVID-19 vaccination efforts and the ability to avoid widespread outbreaks.
Universities saw their budgets hammered during the coronavirus pandemic, which emptied dorms and led to declines in enrollment, and are facing pressure to reopen fully.
A flood of announcements from schools describing their plans has begun as high school seniors and returning students are making decisions about where they will be next fall.