I wondered about this back in the spring, back when all the colleges were closing and scattering tens of thousands of possibly infected students across the country:

Many colleges that welcomed students back just a few weeks ago have already switched to online instruction, and in some cases told students that they must move out of their dorms and return home. Fauci told NBC’s “Today” show that it was important to ensure that infected students are placed in isolation, “but don’t have them go home, because they could be spreading it in their home state.”

When the pandemic hit the US in March, universities could at least say they hadn’t seen it coming.

Now, there are a bunch of schools that have decided to bring kids back on campus in spite of the ongoing pandemic. I assume this decision was a financial one—universities trying to get enough kids on campus for long enough so that they don’t have to refund tuition when they inevitably do have to shut down in-person classes.

Unfortunately, when they do have to send everyone home, they will once again be spreading the infection risk across the entire country.