Illustration: Anke Gladnick for NPR

Despite the rapid spread of the omicron variant, most college campuses are beginning their spring semesters in-person. Just 14 percent of colleges are starting online, according to new data from the College Crisis Initiative.

Colleges are deploying emergency measures as they scramble to deal with the surge in cases. Some schools are using hotels to house students who test positive. Others are offering gift cards if students move home to isolate.

Illustration: Joan Wong

The nation’s top research institutions are inching toward progress in their efforts to diversify their leadership, more than doubling the number of Black college presidents over the past 18 months, according to a new report from the Eos Foundation.

The problem? Only one of those presidents was a woman.

Photo: Anne Wernikoff

The omicron variant of COVID-19 is forcing students to adjust their pre-existing notions about pandemic life. Out with the cloth masks and in with the N95s. Two marks on your vaccine card are now insufficient, as booster shots become widely available. 

But what exactly is safe to do on campus? And how can students best protect themselves? Public health experts weigh in.