MOORHEAD — Multiple local college students taking an international study abroad programs are being called back to the United States because university officials have concerns students could be exposed to the Coronavirus.
The Minnesota University System is canceling all of its outbound international trips for the next 30 days. This includes a popular spring break Costa Rica trip, which is part of a biology class at Minnesota State University Moorhead.
At the end of the 30-day period, university leaders will review the status of the outbreak.
"The class is still on and the students are continuing to learn, so they're not losing any opportunity academically," explained Dean of Students Kara Gravely-Stack.
"They were planning to leave later this week and then be gone next week, which I'm sure just adds to the disappointment for all of the students who were planning to go on that," she added. "I get it, that would be incredibly frustrating at this point."
This is not the only challenge on campus as the worldwide outbreak rapidly develops. Last Thursday, three MSUM students studying abroad in South Korea were instructed to come home.
Faculty at MSUM are working to figure out how these students will finish the semester without losing credits.
Lost tuition costs could also be an unforeseen side effect for students being called back to the U.S. Gravely-Stack said since each student has a unique case, they need to individually work with the financial aid office to get refunds.
Gravely-Stack also said these cancellations are for the students' safety.
"A lot of unknowns at this point," Gravely-Stack said. "The abundance of caution I think is where this decision was made."
According to North Dakota State University's Director of International Student and Study Abroad Services Alicia Kauffman, students studying abroad in China, Italy, and South Korea are returning to the United States.
Kauffman said 50 NDSU students are still studying in other countries but university officials are closely monitoring the spread of the virus that first emerged in China and causes the respiratory illness COVID-19. Outbound international trips offered by NDSU have not yet been canceled.
Concordia College and the University of North Dakota were not able to provide information about how the outbreak has impacted their international programs at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 2.
