Almost all area colleges delayed start of semester

In mid-December, the Pennsylvania departments of Education and Health issued a joint statement encouraging colleges and universities in the commonwealth to delay the return of students to campus for the spring semester, because of an expected post-holiday surge in COVID-19 cases. Many schools have decided to heed that advice and push back the start of in-person classes until late January or early February. Like Pitt, most schools also will offer a hybrid of in-person and online instruction.

Carlow University: The first three weeks of the 2021 spring semester (Jan. 11-29) will be offered fully online – with the exception of essential clinicals, labs, and practicums, Chatham announced in early December. In-person classes will resume Feb. 1, although many will still be online.

Carnegie Mellon University: In October, CMU decided to push the start of classes to Feb. 1 to get past the height of the flu season. In addition, the first week of classes for undergraduate and graduate students will be conducted completely remotely.

Chatham University: Classes will be delivered online only until Jan. 22; in-person classes start on Jan. 25. Chatham made this change in early December.

Duquesne University: The start of classes was delayed until Jan. 21, after which instruction will be a hybrid of online and in-person.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania: On Jan. 5, IUP said it would push back the start of in-person spring semester classes by about three weeks to Feb. 8 and encouraged students to start the semester on Jan. 19 from their homes and not in the Indiana area.

Penn State: On Dec. 18, the state’s largest university said it would delay in-person spring semester classes until Feb. 15 on its main and branch campuses. The semester will start with remote classes on Jan. 19 and end on April 30, with finals week May 3-7, but that is subject to change, according to a university statement.

Robert Morris University: Classes for most students are not expected to start until Jan. 19 and will be entirely remote until Jan. 25. 

Slippery Rock University: Officials announced on Dec. 18 that a phased return to campus was planned for classes that will begin remotely on Jan. 19 and transition to face-to-face classes starting Feb. 1.

— Susan Jones

 

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