As Universities Shut Their Doors, International Students Are Left In Limbo

Students are still unsure how (and where) they’ll finish their semester

On March 11th, the University of Southern California sent an email to its students, faculty, and staff. “Students who are leaving campus for Spring Recess may not return until at least Monday, April 13.” The university had previously planned to hold classes online through March 29th. But the new edict — that students were expected to vacate their housing — threw the campus into confusion.

 “I’m kind of freaking out,” said USC senior Eudelio Garza, who is from Mexico. “No one really knows what’s going on.” For some of the university’s 12,000 international students — and over 1 million at universities around the country — the future is uncertain. Since the announcement, USC students have fled campus in droves.

USC is one of more than 200 colleges and universities across the US that have closed in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory disease associated with the new coronavirus. The World Health Organization has confirmed more than 169,000 cases of the virus around the world, and more than 3,700 have been identified in the US. (Testing lags in the US, though, so that is certainly an undercount of people who are sick.)

So far, one USC undergraduate has tested positive for the virus. As of March 17th, there have been 94 confirmed cases in Los Angeles county, where the university is based. As the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advise against mass gatherings and annual conferences from SXSW to the Geneva Motor Show are shut down, experts say that social distancing is the best defense against the global pandemic. That’s difficult on a packed campus — which is why the schools are closing.

Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/18/21175420/university-college-closure-coronavirus-covid19-housing-internet-security