MOUNTAIN TOP, Pa. — Penn State University is joining the list of schools making the switch to online classes as the coronavirus continues to spread worldwide.
Starting next Monday, tens of thousands of Penn State students from the main campus and all the satellite campuses will have to attend school over the internet.
Seamus Rother and Brett Reidinger, both Penn State juniors, are spending this part of their spring break from school hanging out in Mountain Top.
But when classes resume next week, they won't be heading back to the classroom at the university's main campus in Centre County.
With the number of coronavirus cases continuing to climb worldwide, Penn State is joining the list of schools switching to online classes at its main campus as well as all its satellite campuses across the state.
Rother thinks taking his classes over the internet will be an inconvenience to a lot of students.
"I understand that that's going to be really tough for some kids who have never taken a class online or their class is a lab, like a chem lab or something like that, like how are they going to be able to do that online," said Rother.
Reidinger worries he could be one of those students.
"I do perform a little better when there's people in the class, you look forward to going there and meeting new people," said Reidinger. "You know, building new relationships with people in the class. people in your field and everything, that's like the biggest thing."
The university said in a statement that in-person classes could resume at the earliest by April 6th.
Students are strongly encouraged not to return to campus those both living on and off-campus; they are allowed to return briefly to get the things they need.
"Well, for spring break, I brought home the two classes that I needed to study for the exams when I go back to school," said Rother. "But I don't have the material for the rest of my classes; you know what I mean."
For students who don't have access to a computer or the internet, the university says arrangements can be made for them to use the computer labs on campus.
"Just coming off spring break and then going right into online, I feel like there is kids who, if they're not disciplined they will fall behind," said Rother.
According to the last available numbers, roughly 74,000 students are enrolled at Penn State University.