Universities and colleges are vital members of the District of Columbia community and a critical component of the District’s economy. The District seeks to support these institutions through the COVID-19 emergency, while also protecting the health of students, facility, staff and the community in which they are located. This includes providing and implementing strong public health safeguards to prevent community spread.

Pursuant to the Mayor’s Order 2020-067, the Office of Planning in conjunction with the Deputy Mayor for Education and DC Health, has implemented a Reopening Plan review process for colleges and universities to plan for safe reopening under Phase One.

As colleges and universities in the District develop their reopening plans, various measures must be taken to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission among students, faculty and staff. Reopening plans should address the below questions.

Universities have the option of requesting a phased approval of their plan; The first approval would be a review of the high-level approach to meeting the DOH guidelines and the second approval would cover the more detailed elements of the plan. Universities may also request a single approval.

Reopening Plans may be uploaded as a PDF through the following application.