The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

UNC-Chapel Hill pivots to remote teaching after coronavirus spreads among students during first week of class

August 17, 2020 at 3:49 p.m. EDT
Students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill gather along Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Aug. 9, 2020. (Ted Richardson/For The Washington Post)

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, one of the largest schools in the country to bring students to campus for in-person teaching, said Monday that it will pivot to all-remote instruction for undergraduates after testing showed a pattern of rapid spread of the novel coronavirus.

The shift signaled enormous challenges ahead for those in higher education who are pushing for professors and students to be able to meet on campus. Officials announced the abrupt change just a week after classes began at the 30,000-student state flagship university.