Here are the U.S. universities that have closed due to coronavirus

Last updated March 13, 2020 at 1 p.m. Eastern Time

Over the past week, nearly 300 U.S. universities have announced plans to move classes online in response to the coronavirus pandemic. 

As of Thursday, the World Health Organization has confirmed more than 100,000 global cases of COVID-19 and more than 1,200 cases of the disease were confirmed across 44 states and Washington D.C. by U.S. health officials, triggering global efforts to contain the spread of the disease. The University of Washington, Michigan State University and Arizona State University have each confirmed that individuals linked to their campuses have been diagnosed with COVID-19. 

Following this week’s announcement by the University of Washington in Seattle that a member of its community had contracted COVID-19 and that classes would only be held online for the remainder of the semester, many other universities – including the entire State University System of Florida and more than two dozen colleges in Pennsylvania – have taken steps to protect students, faculty and staff from possible disease exposure by suspending in-person learning, canceling campus events and halting all school sponsored travel. 

To ensure that students’ education is disrupted as little as possible, universities are using a wide range of digital tools, including online learning management systems, video conferencing tools and messaging platforms, to make sure students can access course materials and communicate with professors.

As of March 13, 2020 at 1 p.m. EST these schools have announced remote instruction will replace in-person classes:

• Academy of Art University
• American University
• Amherst College
• Appalachian State University
• Asnuntuck Community College
• Austin Community College
• Baldwin Wallace University
• Barnard College
• Baylor University
• Bellevue College
• Bellingham Technical College
• Bennington College
• Berea College
• Bloomsburg University
• Boston University
• Bowdoin College
• Bowling Green State University
• Brandeis University
• Brandman University
• Brigham Young University
• Bryn Mawr College
• Bucknell University
• California Polytechnic State University Pomona
• California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo
• California State University, Sacramento
• Capital Community College
• Carlow University
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Cascadia College
• Case Western Reserve University
• Champlain College
• Chatham University
• Chestnut Hill College
• Cheyney University
• Central Connecticut State University
• Central Michigan University
• City College of San Francisco
• College of Charleston
• The College of New Jersey
• Colgate University
• College of Staten Island (CUNY)
• Colorado College
• Columbia University
• Columbus College of Art and Design
• CUNY Baruch College
• CUNY Borough of Manhattan Community College
• CUNY Bronx Community College
• CUNY Brooklyn College
• CUNY City College
• CUNY Graduate School and University Center
• CUNY Hostos Community College
• CUNY Hunter College
• CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice
• CUNY Kingsborough Community College
• CUNY LaGuardia Community College
• CUNY Lehman College
• CUNY Medgar Evers College
• CUNY NYC College of Technology
• CUNY Queens College
• CUNY Queensborough Community College
• CUNY School of Law
• CUNY York College
• DePaul University
• Dickinson College
• Duquesne University
• Duke University
• East Carolina University
• Eastern Connecticut State University
• Eastern Michigan University
• Elizabeth City State University
• Everett Community College
• Fairmont State University
• Fayetteville State University
• Florida A&M University
• Florida Atlantic University
• Florida Gulf Coast University
• Florida International University
• Florida Polytechnic University
• Florida State University
• Fordham University
• Franklin and Marshall College
• Gateway Community College
• George Washington University
• Georgetown University
• Grinnell College
• Harvard University
• Haverford College
• Hebrew Union College
• Hofstra University
• Housatonic Community College
• Illinois State University
• Indiana University
• Indiana University of Pennsylvania
• John Carroll University
• Johnson & Wales University
• The Julliard School
• Juniata College
• Kean University
• Kent State University
• Lafayette College
• Lake Washington Institute of Technology
• Lehigh University
• Lincoln University
• Lock Haven University
• Lock Haven University
• Louisiana State University
• Loyola Marymount University
• Manchester Community College
• Marshall University
• Maryville University of Saint Louis
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Metropolitan University of Denver
• Michigan State University
• Michigan Technological University
• Middlebury College
• Middlesex Community College
• Midland University (Nebraska)
• Millersville University
• Misericordia University
• Monmouth University
• Montana State University
• Muhlenberg College
• Naugatuck Valley Community College
• New College of Florida
• The New School
• New York University
• North Carolina A&T State University
• North Carolina Central University
• North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
• North Carolina State University
• North Seattle Community College
• Northern Virginia Community College
• Northeastern University
• Northeastern University Seattle Campus
• Northwestern Connecticut Community College
• Norwalk Community College
• Norwich University
• Oakland University
• Ohio State University
• Oklahoma University
• Pacific Lutheran
• Palo Alto University
• Paul Smiths College of Arts and Sciences
• Penn State University
• Pomona College
• Prairie View A&M University
• Princeton Theological Seminary
• Princeton University
• Quinebaug Valley Community College
• Quinnipiac University
• Rhode Island College
• Rice University
• Robert Morris University
• Rowan University
• Rutgers University Camden
• Rutgers University New Brunswick
• Rutgers University Newark
• Sacred Heart University
• Saginaw Valley State University
• San Diego State University
• San Francisco State University
• San Jose State University
• Santa Clara University
• Seattle Central Community College
• Seattle Pacific University
• Seattle University
• Seton Hall University
• Skidmore College
• Slippery Rock University
• Smith College
• Southern Connecticut State University
• Southern Methodist University
• South Seattle Community College
• SUNY Buffalo State
• SUNY College at Brockport
• SUNY College at Genesseo
• SUNY College at Old Westbury
• SUNY College at Oswego
• SUNY College at Plattsburgh
• SUNY College at Potsdam
• SUNY College at Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill
• SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
• SUNY College of Optometry
• SUNY College of Technology at Alfred
• SUNY College of Technology at Canton
• SUNY College of Technology at Delhi
• SUNY Cortland
• SUNY Empire State College
• SUNY Maritime College
• SUNY Morrisville
• SUNY Oneonta
• SUNY Polytechnic Institute
• SUNY Westchester Community College
• St. John’s University
• St. Louis University
• St. Michael’s College
• Stanford University
• Stevens Institute of Technology
• Syracuse University
• Swarthmore College
• Temple University
• Texas A&M University
• Texas A&M University San Antonio
• Texas Christian University
• Texas Southern University
• Texas State University
• Texas Tech University
• Three Rivers Community College
• Touro College
• Towson University
• Trinity University
• Tufts University
• Tulane University of Louisiana
• Tunxis Community College
• University of Akron
• University of California Berkeley
• University of California Irvine
• University of California San Diego
• University of California Santa Cruz
• University of Central Florida
• University of Cincinnati
• University of Colorado Boulder
• University of Connecticut
• University of Delaware
• University of Florida
• University of Houston
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• University of Iowa
• University of Maryland
• University of Massachusetts Amherst
• University of Massachusetts Boston
• University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
• University of Massachusetts Lowell
• University of Michigan
• University of Minnesota Crookston
• University of Minnesota Duluth
• University of Minnesota Morris
• University of Minnesota Rochester
• University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• University of New Hampshire
• University of New Haven
• University of North Carolina Asheville
• University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
• University of North Carolina Charlotte
• University of North Carolina Greensboro
• University of North Carolina Pembroke
• University of North Carolina School of the Arts
• University of North Carolina Wilmington
• University of North Florida
• The University of North Texas
• University of Northern Colorado
• University of Northern Iowa
• University of Notre Dame
• University of Oregon
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Pittsburgh
• University of Pittsburgh at Bradford
• University of Puget Sound
• University of Rhode Island
• University of Richmond
• University of San Francisco
• University of Scranton
• University of South Florida
• University of Southern California
• University of Tennessee
• University of Texas at Austin
• University of Texas at Arlington
• University of Texas at San Antonio
• University of Utah
• University of Vermont
• University of Virginia
• University of Washington
• University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
• University of West Florida
• University of Wisconsin Green Bay
• University of Wisconsin Madison
• Vanderbilt University
• Vermont Law School
• Villanova University
• Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• Wake Forest University
• Walsh University
• Washington State University
• Washington State University Everett
• Washington University St. Louis
• Wayne State University
• Wentworth Institute of Technology
• Wesleyan University
• West Chester University
• Western Carolina University
• Western Connecticut State University
• Western Michigan University
• Western Washington University
• Westfield State University
• Westminster College
• Whittier College
• Widener University
• Winston-Salem State University
• Xavier University
• Yeshiva University

After the disease was first detected in Wuhan, China, last December, the novel coronavirus has quickly spread around the world, and WHO on Wednesday officially classified it a global pandemic, a term used to describe the sustained transmission of an illness throughout the world.

Although efforts are now underway to slow the spread of viral outbreak, including bans on international travel and large public gatherings, the Center for Disease Control has not recommended that higher education institutions preemptively close their campuses, instead advising colleges to suspend classes and events only if they have identified cases of COVID-19 within their communities.

“The most important thing for [institutions of higher education] to do now is plan and prepare,” the CDC’s website reads.

However, according to a frequently cited 2007 paper on the Spanish flu of 1918, proactive school closures have been shown to be one of the most powerful non-pharmaceutical interventions that can be deployed to minimize the consequences of a pandemic.

Citing an “abundance of caution,” many universities have made the decision to cancel in-person classes for the next several weeks, and in some cases for the remainder of the semester.

Although no students or faculty are known to have contracted COVID-19 at Princeton University in New Jersey, administrators there have announced the school will move to virtual instruction beginning March 23 through April 5.

“Though we continue to believe the risk of transmission on our campus is currently low, we know that community spread is occurring in various parts of the United States,” Chris Eisgruber, President of Princeton University, said in a statement to students and faculty. “In order to help mitigate the growing risk of transmission, we will begin instituting a series of policies and practices this week based on the concept of social distancing … this will include a mandatory, temporary move for all lectures, seminars, and precepts to virtual instruction.”

This is part of StateScoop and EdScoop’s special report on coronavirus response. Read the rest of the report.