As California colleges and universities reopen this fall they must adhere to strict limits on in-person classes and greatly restrict dorm and campus life, state public health officials said Friday in long-awaited guidance for how campuses can operate amid a surge in COVID-19 cases.

The delay in state guidance had frustrated campuses, which have scrambled to create varying reopening plans without knowing what ultimately would be approved by county and state public health officials and how that would affect thousands of students just days from starting fall semester.

Most colleges, including the vast UC and Cal State systems, have already announced they were planning to start the fall with mostly online classes. The state’s strict rules prohibit indoor lectures for campuses located within the 38 counties on the COVID-19 monitoring list.

Some institutions, including USC and Claremont McKenna College, had abruptly scaled down plans to bring back some students to campus and announced they would begin classes this month with fully remote instruction and greatly limited access to dorms.

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