Cal State campuses to stay closed in the fall

The largest four-year public university system in the United States will not allow students back on campus after the summer break. California State University system Chancellor Timothy White announced on Tuesday that the state’s 23 campuses, which closed in March to slow the spread of COVID-19, will hold most classes online when the school year begins again. He said the university will make a few exceptions for “indispensable” instruction and research that must take place in person, such as training for clinical nursing and maritime students.

Why decide so soon? White said there were too many unknowns about how the coronavirus pandemic will unfold in the coming months, including the possibility of a second wave of infections. The system’s campuses bring more than 500,000 students and staff into close proximity, and “that approach sadly just isn’t in the cards now,” he told trustees, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Dig deeper: Read Laura Edghill’s report in Schooled about college students who are demanding a refund for lost in-person instruction.