LEXINGTON, Ky.— Many are wondering how major universities are making their decisions behind keeping their campuses open to the students this fall with the pandemic. As of Thursday, the University of Kentucky currently has 104 active cases and the University of Louisville has a 1.96% positivity rate. 

As the pandemic continues, UK and UofL are continuing to host in-person classes. That decision comes from hours of conversations with health professionals, researchers, public health researchers, and many more tracking the coronavirus updates and cases on both campuses. 

Jay Blanton the spokesperson for the University of Kentucky says keeping in-person classes and allowing students to live on campus was important for the college experience and important to the Lexington community. 

“The residential experience on a campus is the best thing for students in terms of being successful in their educational pursuits. It's also important for our community. UK is one of the largest employers in the state. It's by far the largest employer in our region. But it means a great deal for our economy.” Blanton said. 

Beth Boehm the Executive Vice President and University Provost for the University of Louisville says deciding to stay open was not easy. This fall semester UofL students had the option of both online-only classes or hybrid courses. 30% of the classes were online only while 60% were hybrid. Dr. Boehm teaches an English class for Freshman students. Throughout the fall semester, she hasn’t had any complaints from students with the changes and appreciates the students and other faculty members complying with the new changes. 

“I have not had a single student not have a mask on, not even for a minute, in class. So I think that our students have been really compliant and thinking about each other, you know and we have not had many complaints about the mask policy.” Boehm said.

Both UK and UofL are planning to continue their COVID-19 plans for the spring semester. Canceling both of their spring breaks and asking for students to get tested once returning on campus in January.