Universities and colleges in New England and around the country have started to limit in-person classes, recall students from study-abroad programs, and restrict large gatherings amid the spread of the coronavirus illness Covid-19.

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The decisions vary by school, but some are cutting off in-person classes altogether and requiring students to move out of dorms in a matter of days.

Coronavirus ended their school year. Students explain the frustrating 'great Harvard evacuation' Share Email to a Friend Embed On Tuesday, Harvard moved all classes online. They also announced a requirement for students to vacate dorms. ( Produced by: Kami Rieck and Tyler Dolph/Globe Correspondents )

Here’s an alphabetically ordered roundup of schools taking action. This is a running list and will be updated.

American International College (March 12)


Spring break has been extended by one week “to prepare for distance learning through the end of the semester, if it is deemed necessary,” officials announced Thursday, March 12. Students cannot return to campus until Sunday, March 22, and classes will resume Monday, March 23.

Amherst College (March 9)

All classes at Amherst will be canceled Thursday and Friday, and spring break will take place March 16 through March 22. After the break, classes will shift to being completely online so they can be fulfilled remotely, President Carolyn Martin said in a statement.

Anna Maria College (March 12)

The college will transition to online learning for the remainder of the school year, president Mary Lou Retelle announced. Spring break will be extended through Sunday, March 22, to allow faculty and campus officials to “prepare for remote instruction."

Assumption College (March 12)

Officials said spring break has been extended to Wednesday, March 18. Classes will be held remotely starting on Thursday, March 19, until at least Monday, March 30. All students, with the exception of international students and those with special circumstances, will not be allowed on campus until at least Sunday, March 29. All campus events have been canceled.


Babson College (March 10)

All classes at Babson will be held online, running through the end of the spring semester, the school announced. Students are required to move out of their residence halls by March 21.

Bard College at Simon’s Rock (May 12)

Classes will be held through remote forms of instruction when classes resume Monday, March 23, the school announced. Residence halls and campus facilities will remain open.

Bay Path University (March 12)

The school announced that all classes will be canceled Monday, March 16, and Tuesday, March 17. Classes will move online from Wednesday, March 18, through Sunday, April 5. Residence halls will be closed through April 5. Students who have extenuating circumstances can request to stay on campus during this time. All university-sponsored events through April 5 have been postponed or canceled.

Becker College (March 12)

Classes will be held online from Monday, March 16, through Friday, March 27, Becker President Nancy Crimmin said in a statement. Students must leave their dorms by 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 15. Students who have special circumstances can petition to stay on campus.

Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology (March 11)

Officials have extended spring break to Friday, March 20. From Monday, March 23, through at least Friday, April 3, all classes will be held online. All school-sponsored events with more than 20 attendees and trips are suspended through April 3. Disposable wipes will be available in each classroom.


Bentley University (March 12)

Classes are canceled between Monday, March 16, and Friday, March 20, officials announced. Online classes will be held Monday, March 23, through the end of the semester. Students who do not have extenuating circumstances must remain off campus, but can return to pick up any items needed until 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17.

Berklee College of Music (March 11)

At the end of the week, Berklee will halt in-person classes, the school announced, and all performances, events, and visting artists at the conservatory have been canceled until further notice.

All students can complete classes remotely and the school has asked them not to return to campus after spring break, though residence halls will remain open for those with extenuating circumstances.

Berkshire Community College (March 13)

Classes that are held in person are suspended from Monday, March 23, through Friday, March 27, officials announced. Online classes and online portions of classes will run without interruption.

Boston Architectural College (March 11)

All in-person classes at BAC will transition to being held online starting Friday, March 13, the college announced Wednesday. The school’s campus will remain open only to full- and part-time employees, and housing will continue to be available to current BAC students residing at Pine Manor College, the college said.

Boston College (March 11)

Starting Thursday, Boston College will not hold any on-campus classes and on March 19 will transition to online education, remaining that way through the rest of the spring semester, the university announced.


Students are required to leave BC residence halls by Sunday, March 15, though exceptions will be made for those with travel restrictions or other obligations.

Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis (March 12)

All classes on Thursday, March 12, and Friday, March 13 have been canceled, President Jane Snyder said. Classes will resume online for the remainder of the semester starting the week of March 16 “if all is in place to do so,” Snyder said.

Boston University (March 11)

BU announced it would move all classes online and students who are away for spring break are advised not to return to campus after break ends — and students are asked to move out of university residence halls unless they’ve been granted an exception to stay, according to BU’s leadership.

The school’s online classes and campus restrictions will remain in place for the rest of the semester.

Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Me. (March 11)

Bowdoin will finish the spring semester with “remote learning," the school announced. Students will not be allowed to return to campus after spring break but staff and faculty may continue to work.

Brandeis University (March 11)

Classes with more than 100 students will move online at Brandeis beginning Monday, March 16, and classes of all sizes will follow and become online-only by Friday, March 20, Brandeis announced.


President Ron Liebowitz said in his announcement that students will be allowed to remain in campus residence halls on a case-by-case basis but that undergraduates are asked to move out of their housing by March 25.

Bridgewater State University (March 11)

Spring Break has been extended through Friday, March 20, and all classes will resume Monday, March 23, officials said in a statement. They will be online from then until at least April 5.

Residence Halls will remain closed until Sunday, March 22, at 9 a.m. All university-sponsored travel has been canceled and university events scheduled to take place over the next 30 days will be canceled on a case-by-case basis, officials said.

Bristol Community College (March 12)

Spring break has been extended until Saturday, March 28, officials announced. Classes may move online from Monday, March 30 through Saturday, April 4, but officials said “that plan is still being determined.”

Brown University (March 12)

Brown University will move to online instruction on March 30, officials said in a statement. Students living in university-sponsored housing must move out by March 22. Classes are canceled for the week of March 16 to allow students to pack up their belongings and faculty to prepare to teach classes remotely.

Bryant University (March 10)

Bryant will keep its campus open but move to online classes starting March 17 and suspending on-campus activities through March 27. During that time, students are advised not to return to campus from spring break, but those already on campus will be allowed to remain in university residence halls.

“It is very possible that these steps will continue after the initial two week period ending March 27,” Bryant president Ronald K. Machtley said in the school’s announcement.

Bunker Hill Community College (March 12)

BHCC officials said there is a presumptive case of Covid-19 on the Chelsea campus; however it is not a confirmed case at this point, and they are awaiting a test result. Both the Charlestown and Chelsea campuses were closed and all classes on satellite and instructional centers were canceled from Thursday, March 12 until Monday, March 16.

Classes are currently scheduled to resume at BHCC on Monday, March 30.

Cape Cod Community College (March 12)

Classes will be held online from Monday, March 23, until at least Monday, April 13, the school announced. Certain computer labs will be kept open for students and faculty to use on campus. Officials said these labs “will be reconfigured to allow for the recommended amount of ‘social distancing’ as put forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Clark University (March 12)

Classes scheduled between Monday, March 16, and Friday, March 20, have been canceled, university officials said. All classes will resume online on Monday, March 23, in online, distance-learning formats. Students living on campus must move out of the residence halls by 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 22.

College of the Holy Cross (March 11)

All classes will be held online for the rest of the semester starting Monday, March 23, school officials said. No classes will be held during the week of March 16. Students must vacate their dorms by 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 14. Students with special circumstances can petition to stay on campus.

Curry College (March 11)

Curry has suspended all in-person classes and extended spring break by one week through March 22. Following the extended break, the school will hold classes online for “as long as necessary" it said in an announcement from President Kenneth Quigley Jr.

Dean College (March 12)

Spring break has been extended through Sunday, March 22, officials said. Residence halls will be closed during this time to all students who have not been approved to stay on campus due to special circumstances. Administrative offices will remain open and school officials said they will “plan for the possibility of online learning.”

Eastern Nazarene College (March 12)

Classes scheduled from Monday, March 16, through Wednesday, March 18, have been canceled, officials said. Online instruction will begin on Thursday, March 19. Students who live on campus, with the exception of students with extenuating circumstances, must move out of campus housing by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17.

Elms College (March 12)

The school announced that students’ return to campus will be delayed through the week of March 16.

Emerson College (March 10)

All classes will be canceled from March 16 through March 20. When they begin again on March 23, it will be done virtually. Students will have the option about whether they would like to leave or stay in on-campus housing, but all campus buildings will remain open, President Lee Pelton announced.

Emmanuel College (March 13)

Emmanuel will hold classes online for the rest of the semester, the school announced.

Endicott College (March 12)

President Steven DiSalvo announced spring break will be extended through Sunday, March 29 and remote learning will begin Monday, March 30. DiSalvo said remote learning will last until at least Friday, April 3, and students are expected to return to campus on Sunday, April 5.

Fisher College (March 11)

Fisher College will extend spring break to March 17 and move classes online starting March 18. At this time, the residence halls will close but students can petition to stay on campus if they cannot return home. Fisher’s president Alan Ray also announced that all non-essential college travel is canceled until further notice.

Fitchburg State University (March 12)

Fitchburg State has canceled classes until Monday, March 23, when they will reconvene online, the university announced, and residence halls will remain closed for the rest of the semester.

Framingham State University (March 11)

University officials announced that spring break will be extended a week. Classes will resume on Monday, March 30, and remain remote for the rest of the semester and will close university residence halls. Students can petition to stay in on-campus housing if they have special circumstances.

Gordon College (March 11)

The school announced that it has delayed the return of students to campus by one week. Classes will resume on Monday, March 23, in an online format and remain that way at least until April 13.

Greenfield Community College (March 13)

Officials said spring break will be extended through March 27. Starting on Monday, March 16, the school will be open “on a limited basis allowing access only to GCC faculty, staff, and students to provide resources necessary to ensure program requirements will be met for program completion,” officials said.

Hampshire College (March 11)

Classes at Hampshire College will move online “indefinitely," officials announced.

“Only operations critical to the functioning of the campus and necessary to support the safety and well-being of students in residence will continue on campus,” the school said in its announcement. Only students with college approval to remain in campus residences will be allowed to stay there after March 18.

Harvard University (March 10)

In a statement posted on the university website dedicated to Covid-19 issues, Harvard said that it will shift to virtual classrooms for both graduate and undergraduate students, with a goal of it being fully in place by March 23, when spring break ends. Harvard urged students not to return to campus after spring break ends.

Hebrew College (March 11)

A community learning student at Hebrew College tested positive for the coronavirus, said Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, president of Hebrew College. “Because this student attended a class at Hebrew College last week, we made the decision, in consultation with local medical professionals, to close the building as of the end of the work day on March 11 for deep cleaning and disinfecting,” Anisfeld said in a statement. Classes will be taught online in the coming weeks.

Hellenic College Holy Cross (March 11)

Spring break has been extended through Friday, March 20, and all classes will be held online for the rest of the semester starting on Monday, March 23, the school announced. Only students with special circumstances will be allowed to remain living on campus.

Labouré College (March 11)

All classes will be held online beginning Thursday, March 12. Officials said the end date of online classes "will be reassessed by the task force on a regular basis. Campus and business operations will continue as usual.” Access to the campus will be restricted through April 7, the school said.

Lasell University (March 12)

Officials announced that spring break for undergraduate students will be extended an extra week. Classes will resume online on Monday, March 30, for undergraduate students and Monday, March 23, for graduate students. Residence halls and all campus buildings will remain open.

Lesley University (March 11)

University officials said they have extended Spring Break through Friday, March 20. Classes will be held online once they resume and students will not be allowed to live on campus.

Massachusetts College of Art and Design (March 11)

MassArt will take all learning online for the remainder of the semester, the school announced. The school’s residence halls will be closed for the remainder of the semester.

Massachusetts College Of Liberal Arts (March 13)

MCLA President James Birge announced that all MCLA classes will be held online for the rest of the semester when they resume on Monday, March 30.

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (March 11)

Spring break is extended through Sunday, March 22, and all classes will be held online or through other forms of remote learning for the rest of the semester starting on Monday, March 23, officials announced. Officials said “clinical rotations will continue as scheduled, and students on clinical rotations will receive information from their academic programs/clinical education teams as they move forward.”

All students, with the exception of students with extenuating circumstances and international students who can not return to their home countries, must vacate residence halls on MCPHS’s Boston campus. Officials have not yet said when students must be leave by, but on-campus students will be sent an e-mail with more information soon, officials said. Students who are at the Worcester campus will be able to stay in university-sponsored housing. All events on campus and university-sponsored travel has been suspended, but university services will remain available.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (March 10)

MIT is moving all classes online and expecting undergraduate students to move out of their dormitories. The university said a recent visit to campus by a recruiter who had contracted the virus illustrated the risks — and the need for more aggressive precautionary measures.

Massachusetts Maritime Academy (March 13)

Classes held on campus have been suspended for the week of March 16, officials announced. The Academy will likely hold classes online or in a remote learning format starting on Monday, March 23, with the exception of some classes that will continue to run in person. Cadets must vacate all academy-sponsored housing by noon Tuesday, March 17, unless they have a hardship and need to stay on campus.

Massasoit Community College (March 12)

Massasoit officials said they were notified March 12 of a person at the college who was sick and being tested for the coronavirus. “Additionally, we have been notified of another individual who was on campus recently who was exposed to the virus but is not showing symptoms,” officials said.

Students return from spring break on March 23, and “most in-person classes will be suspended until March 27, at which point many classes will be taught remotely,” the school announced.

Merrimack College (March 11)

Spring break has been extended to Sunday, March 22, Merrimack President Christopher Hopey said in a statement. “This will give us time to speak to and work with faculty on plans that will work to mitigate the impact on teaching and learning,” Hopey said. The school announced it will hold online classes after that point, through at least April 13.

MGH Institute of Health Professions

Courses at MGH Institute of Health Professions will move online for the rest of the spring semester starting on March 16, according to officials. The campus will remain open, but all faculty and staff should work from home, officials said.

Middlesex Community College (March 15)

The college will be closed Monday, March 16, and Tuesday, March 17, according to officials. Staff should also not report to work those days.

Montserrat College of Art (March 13)

The school announced that Continuing Education classes postponed until the week of April 1.

Mount Holyoke College (March 10)

Spring break will be extended for two weeks for the campus and “alternate modes of instruction” will begin after spring break, the school said in an announcement. No in-person classes will be held after Friday, March 13.

All students will be asked to move out of on-campus housing by Saturday, March 14, though exceptions will be made for those with “extenuating circumstances,” the school said.

Mount Wachusett Community College (March 13)

The college’s campuses and the Garrision Center were closed Friday, March 13, through Monday, March 16, after an employee “was notified [Friday afternoon] that they had close exposure to an individual not associated with MWCC who is demonstrating symptoms of Covid-19,” MWCC President James Vander Hooven said. He said the employee has not yet been tested but have been placed under self-quarantine. All classes are cancelled for the week of March 23-27.

New England College of Optometry (March 13)

Officials said labs and seminars have been suspended from Monday, March 16, through Sunday, March 29, and didactic education will be held online during that time. Access to the college’s Beacon Street campus will be limited during this period.

New England Conservatory of Music (March 15)

All students who are living in residence halls, unless allowed to stay due to extenuating circumstances, must leave campus by 5 p.m. March 17, Dean of Students Nick Tartar said. Spring break has been extended and classes will move online starting on Monday, March 30.

Nichols College (March 13)

Classes will be held online from Monday, March 23, through Friday, April 3, the school announced. Residence halls will remain open “for those students who want to have access to campus,” officials said.

North Shore Community College (March 15)

The college is closed to the public on Monday, March 16, and remains on extended spring break.

Northeastern University (March 15)

Northeastern announced March 11 that beginning Thursday, March 12, the school’s Boston campus will go to online and remote instruction, following decisions the previous week to teach online classes at the university’s Seattle and San Francisco Bay Area campuses.

University president Joseph E. Aoun announced the decision, and said that the school was not aware of anyone in its community who had been infected with the Covid-19 illness. As part of his announcement, he noted that students would not be asked to move out of Northeastern residence halls.

Over the weekend, however, the school changed course, asking students to move out of Northeastern residence halls in Boston by Tuesday, March 17, at 5 p.m.

Olin College of Engineering (March 10)

Olin announced that it is moving to virtual instruction for all courses until further notice and students should not plan to return to campus after spring break.

Regis College (March 11)

Students at Regis College may remain in residence halls and the Regis campus will remain open, but classes will be online-only at the Weston school until further notice. In an announcement, Regis said it will not host any nonessential gatherings of more than 50 people but encouraged college staff to continue to come to work.

Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I. (March 10)

Roger Williams University is extending its spring break by one week and enacting plans to move to online instruction for as long as needed this semester. In a message sent March 10, the university told students not to return to campus, saying the residence and dining halls will be closed until further notice.

Salem State University (March 11)

University officials canceled classes for the week of March 23. Faculty and staff will continue to report to campus and all administrative offices will remain open. Residence halls will remain closed between 7 p.m. Friday, March 13, through noon on Sunday, March 29. Classes will resume on Monday, March 30 and remain online for the rest of the semester.

Simmons University (March 13)

University officials announced that all undergrad and graduate campus-based classes will meet remotely for the remainder of the semester. Classes will resume on Monday, March 23, after the one-week extended spring break ends and will be conducted online for the rest of the semester.

Smith College (March 10)

The last in-person classes at Smith were held Friday. The college will extend spring break to students until March 29 and online and alternative classes will start the following day.

Stonehill College (March 11)

Stonehill College students are being asked to stay at home following spring break and take classes remotely. Online instruction will begin on March 18 and continue in that format through Friday, March 27.

Suffolk University (March 10)

Suffolk is extending its spring break by two days, and when classes resume on March 18, it will be done virtually until the end of the semester. The university’s president, Marisa Kelly, announced that students will also be required to move out of campus housing, with the exception of international students and students “with special circumstances,” a statement said.

Tufts University (March 10)

Beginning March 25, when students return from an extended spring break, classes will be conducted virtually for the remainder of the semester. Students are asked to depart from campus residence halls by Monday, March 16, but those who are unable to return to their homes due to travel restrictions or other “significant constraints” will be allowed to remain in dorms.

University of Massachusetts system (March 11)

University of Massachusetts President Martin Meehan announced that the system will move to virtual classes and instruct students not to return to campus after spring break in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus, according to sources close to the administration.

All five campuses of the state’s public university, which includes nearly 75,000 undergraduate and graduate students, will stop offering in-person instruction.

UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy announced that all in-person classes will be suspended until the end of the semester. Classes were originally scheduled to resume April 3. The suspension included laboratories, studios, capstones, and graduate courses. The suspension also includes the campus at Mount Ida in Newton and the UMass Center.

Wellesley College (March 12)

Remote instruction will begin on Monday, March 30, and continue through the end of the semester, according to officials. Students must move out of university-sponsored housing by 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17, unless they are approved to stay on campus under special circumstances.

All athletic events after March 13 have been canceled, as have spring semester study abroad programs in Western Europe. Officials said all other study abroad programs are being reviewed. The campus and its services will remain open.

Wentworth Institute of Technology (March 11)

In a letter to the Wentworth community, president Mark A. Thompson announced Wednesday that the school would move classes online and would be closing its residence halls for the rest of the spring semester.

Westfield State (March 11)

Westfield State will cancel in-person classes for the week of March 16-20 and conduct them online for the rest of the semester, beginning with the week of March 23-27, the school announced.

Wheaton College (March 11)

Wheaton will hold virtual classes beginning Monday, March 23, and students are expected to leave campus by Sunday, March 22, by 5 p.m.

Classes and student operations will be remote for the remainder of the spring semester, the school said in an announcement.

Williams College (March 11)

Williams will end in-person classes on Friday, March 13, and begin spring break a week early, on March 14, the college announced Wednesday.

Students will be required to leave campus by Tuesday, March 17, and online-only classes will begin on April 6, the school’s first day back from spring break. Students with extenuating circumstances will be allowed to remain on the Williams campus, the school said in its announcement.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (March 11)

The start of new spring semester courses is delayed until Wednesday, March 25, WPI officials said in statement. No cases of the coronavirus have been reported at WPI, but officials said “this delay is necessary in order to prepare to deliver our curriculum remotely.” All courses will be taught remotely starting on March 25 for at least two weeks.

Residence halls will be closed through April 4 to students who do not have special permission to stay on campus, officials said. Faculty and staff will still report to campus, but all travel sponsored by WPI in the upcoming weeks has been canceled. Officials said they will make a decision about the rest of the term at the end of March.

Worcester State University (March 11)

Worcester State will resume classes on Monday, March 30, and in step with its sister schools in the state system, employ distance learning for the remainder of the spring, the school announced.

















Peter Bailey-Wells can be reached at peter.bailey-wells@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @pbaileywells.