Virus Concerns Force Texas Universities To Extend Spring Break

Here’s a list of closings for Texas colleges and universities.

By Michael Marks & Terri LangfordMarch 12, 2020 9:43 am, ,

This is spring break week for many Texas colleges and universities.

But with the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 cases, many of those schools are grappling with how to keep students and staff safe once they return.

Whether it’s extending spring break, banning travel abroad, moving to online classes or shutting down dorms, almost every college or university in Texas has made some change to their normal operations.

The following colleges extended spring break by a week and will conduct classes online when students return on March 30: Texas Tech University, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas Christian University, the University of Houston and Baylor University. Both Baylor and TCU will reevaluate whether to resume in-person classes by April 4.

Abilene Christian University will extend their spring break by another week until March 20 and then conduct all classes online for the main campus from March 23 through April 9.

The University of North Texas in Denton has canceled in-person classes next week and will resume all courses on March 23.

Texas A&M University is extending spring break by two days with classes there to resume on March 18.

Texas Weslyan in Fort Worth will suspend classes all next week and begin with online instruction on March 23.

At Texas State University in San Marcos, spring break has been extended through March 27. Classes will move online through April 12.

In Houston this week, in-person classes were cancelled at Rice University. Next week is Rice’s spring break. One employee there has tested positive for the coronavirus, and 14 people are in self-quarantine.

In San Antonio, St. Mary’s University, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, Trinity University, the Alamo Colleges District, Our Lady of the Lake University, and the University of Texas at San Antonio have all extended spring break by a week. Trinity University will also close its residence halls on Monday, March 16 for the remainder of the spring semester.

This story is being updated regularly to reflect the most recent college closure announcements.