Michigan State says most classes will be online in the fall

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State University is going online for the fall and is encouraging students to stay home, the school's president announced Tuesday, as schools across the nation struggled to control coronavirus outbreaks.

Remote learning for undergraduates is scheduled to begin Sept. 2.

"Given the current status of the virus in our country — particularly what we are seeing at other institutions as they re-populate their campus communities — it has become evident to me that, despite our best efforts and strong planning, it is unlikely we can prevent widespread transmission of COVID-19 between students if our undergraduates return to campus," President Samuel L. Stanley said in a news release on the university's website.

The move to online learning is just for undergraduate students at the moment. The colleges of Law, Human Medicine, Nursing, Osteopathic Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and all graduate programs will receive details at a later time, according to the university in East Lansing.

Last September, Michigan State's total enrollment was 49,809 students, with 39,176 undergraduates.

“Our decision in March to transition to remote classes and have more employees work remotely was the right one,” Stanley said. “Since that time, we’ve worked diligently to create new approaches to educational and enrichment opportunities for our students, while always keeping health and safety foremost in mind.”

Over the next two weeks, in-person and hybrid classes will be transitioned to remote formats, Michigan State said.

Refunds or credits will be issued to students who already paid for the fall semester.

“We also realize that for some students MSU is their home or they need to be on campus for employment,” Stanley said. “Just like we did this...