Columbia University Suspends Travel Abroad, Could Go to Remote Classes

(Bloomberg) -- Columbia University and New York University suspended sponsored student travel abroad, including over spring break, in response to the spreading coronavirus.

Columbia is contacting students in study-abroad programs about returning home, according to a statement Tuesday. NYU, which has its own network of global campuses, said it’s giving students in places such as London, Sydney and Tel Aviv the option to continue their programs or return home and complete coursework remotely.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has encouraged schools to consider postponing or canceling foreign-exchange programs, saying students may face unpredictable circumstances including new travel restrictions. Rutgers canceled its study-abroad program on Monday.

A separate statement emailed to students in Columbia’s business school mentioned the possibility that the New York-based university might, at some future date, move to remote instruction.

“We are readying our faculty and staff to make this transition should the need occur,” business school Dean Costis Maglaras said in the statement.

--With assistance from Eben Novy-Williams and Felice Maranz.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Levin in Miami at jlevin20@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael J. Moore at mmoore55@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.