Race for the Coronavirus National Championship - Texas clings to an early lead

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A New York Times survey of every public four-year college in the country, as well as every private institution that competes in Division I sports or is a member of an elite group of research universities, revealed at least 6,300 cases tied to about 270 colleges over the course of the pandemic. And the new academic year has not even begun at most schools.

There is no standardized reporting method for coronavirus cases and deaths at colleges, and the information is not being publicly tracked at a national level. Of nearly 1,000 institutions contacted by The Times, some had already posted case information online, some provided full or partial numbers and others refused to answer basic questions, citing privacy concerns. Hundreds of colleges did not respond at all.

Still, the Times survey represents the most comprehensive look at the toll the virus has already taken on the country’s colleges and universities.

Coronavirus infections on campuses might go unnoticed if not for reporting by academic institutions themselves because they do not always show up in official state or countywide tallies, which generally exclude people who have permanent addresses elsewhere, as students often do.

The Times survey included four-year public schools in the United States, some of which are subject to public records laws, that are members of the Association of American Universities or that compete at the highest level of college sports. It has not yet expanded to include hundreds of other institutions, including most private schools and community colleges, where students, faculty and staff are struggling with the same difficult decisions.

Among the colleges that provided information, many offered no details about who contracted the virus, when they became ill or whether a case was connected to a larger outbreak. It is possible that some of the cases were identified months ago, in the early days of the outbreak in the United States before in-person learning was cut short, and that others involved students and employees who had not been on campus recently.

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