Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on the day's biggest business stories
Subscribe to Axios Closer for insights into the day’s business news and trends and why they matter
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Many colleges will bring students back to campus for the spring semester, with or without widespread vaccination.
Why it matters: Several colleges that reopened campuses in the fall were tied to big outbreaks. But schools say they've learned from that experience and improved their safety protocols, and are now confident that they can manage fuller campuses.
Driving the news: Only about 35% of colleges — including both public and private institutions — will be fully or primarily online this semester, said Chris Marsicano, executive director of the College Crisis Initiative at Davidson College.
- Brown University will roughly triple the number of students in campus housing, the Brown Daily Herald reports. And Harvard University will nearly double its capacity, to 3,100 individual student bedrooms.
Where it stands: Schools are implementing more rigorous safety measures, or modifying their operations, in the hopes of avoiding more outbreaks.
- The University of North Carolina system recently announced that students will be required to get tested before they return to campus for the spring.
- The University of Florida, which is offering more face-to-face courses despite faculty objections, is requiring all students on campus be tested every two weeks.
- Mississippi State University delayed its spring term by five days because some students may not have quarantined during break.
The other side: Pennsylvania State University will start the spring semester online because of "extensive analysis and scenario planning given worsening virus conditions nationally and across the state indicating predictions of rising hospitalization rates in the coming weeks," the university announced Friday.
- The California State University's 23 campuses are not anticipating in-person classes until the fall.
What they're saying: "It's been every campus trying the best they can to come up with their own regimen and their own system, and it's been hugely inefficient but also it's just prevented a lot of campuses that could’ve opened from opening," said John Bailey, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
- Parties, Greek life and sports remain a challenge, but so far, the colleges that have made on-campus life work have been able to create a culture of responsibility, he said.
The bottom line: Most colleges students will not be eligible for the vaccine during spring semester, and will need serious testing efforts and social discipline to keep outbreaks from occurring.