Harvard Students Will Pay $49,653 for Remote Learning

Harvard says that because of the pandemic, students this year will experience "a fall like no other"—although one familiar thing will be the tuition fees. The university says all classes will be conducted remotely, but tuition will not be discounted from $49,653, CNBC reports. The university says around 40% of undergraduates, mostly first-year students, will be allowed to be in residence, each in a single room, with coronavirus testing required every three days. Like off-campus students, they will be learning remotely, and the "Social Compact" for undergraduates states that most common rooms and other facilities will be closed and Harvard will not be "permitting any in-person programs or events, either off-campus or on-campus," Harvard Magazine reports. The undergraduates will be expected to leave campus by Thanksgiving.

Harvard's president says the university decided to invite first-years to live on campus to help with "making the transition to college in these strange times." "They have not yet begun to build their Harvard network of faculty, advisors, and friends," Lawrence Bacow said in a campus letter, per the AP. "Even with the many adaptations that will be in place this fall, we see enormous value in having them on campus in our residential system." The university says that unless the coronavirus situation improves—or worsens—only seniors will be allowed to live on campus this spring, while first-years will learn remotely from off-campus. The university says that students not permitted to live on campus for any part of the year will be allowed to take two classes on campus next summer, with tuition waived. (More Harvard stories.)