George Washington University will hold all undergrad classes online this fall

The George Washington University on Monday announced that it will hold all of its undergraduate classes online in the fall with “limited exceptions.” 

GW citing the resurgence of COVID-19 cases nationwide as its reasoning to move its undergraduate classes online. It also said that the move was based on the advice of public health experts and feedback from concerned students and faculty. 

“Based on these considerations, we have made the difficult decision to hold all undergraduate courses online for the fall semester, with limited exceptions,” the university said in a release. “We will provide housing on campus only for a limited number of students who have extenuating personal or academic circumstances.”

Those who are housed on campus will still attend classes online and follow public health requirements such as social distancing, mask-wearing and regular testing for the virus. 

GW also announced the university would decrease tuition by 10 percent for Foggy Bottom undergraduate students who do not live on campus in the fall. 

“We recognize … that many undergraduate students will not have access to certain in-person resources they would have had as residential students,” the release said. “And we further recognize that the pandemic has caused unprecedented financial dislocation for many members of our community.”

While we hoped to come back to campus together next month, we have made the difficult decision to hold all undergraduate courses online for the fall semester, with limited exceptions.

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— GW University (@GWtweets) July 27, 2020

Most graduate programs will also be held online, with specific programs having “discipline-specific in-person classes.”

The university said its faculty has been preparing for an online operation in the fall and said it has learned since the quick change to online learning in the spring when the pandemic caused shutdowns in the U.S.

“We know just how much many of you were looking forward to being on campus this fall, and we understand that this news is disappointing,” GW said. “However, we must always make the decisions that best support the health, safety and care of our community while fulfilling our core academic mission.”

The private university’s announcement comes as schools across the country are determining whether to return to in-person instruction in the fall. President Trump and his administration have pushed for schools to hold in-person classes and previously threatened to withhold funding from those that do not. 

Universities are also juggling local mandates on people coming from out of state, including in Washington, D.C., where Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced last week that all people traveling from hotspots needed to quarantine for two weeks.