Columbia Announces Undergrads Will Study Remotely, Latest College To Reverse Course

Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger wrote in a letter that the school has to drastically reduce the number of undergraduate students who can live on-campus to only students who need to for approved personal or academic reasons.

While the university has the physical capacity to conduct many undergraduate courses in person, Bollinger wrote online instruction is the “only realistic approach” with students living in so many different locations.

The New York travel advisory, which requires people from 32 states to quarantine for 14 days after arriving in the state and the impact the necessary public health regulations have on student health were the two main deciding factors.

Although all undergraduate classes will be online, 40% of the graduate courses will be in-person or a hybrid. 

Columbia announced last month it would allow only 60% of undergraduates to live on campus on a rotating schedule.