Harvard students say the coronavirus pandemic has upended the last place at the elite $46,000 a year university where all students felt equal: its dorms

Harvard students were given five days' notice to evacuate from their campus accommodations before their spring break, after which the campus will remain closed until further notice. Some students are panicking about where they're going to live.

Source: Business Insider

Harvard University, which costs about $46,000 a year to attend, is one of several major colleges and universities across the US are shifting to remote classes to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Source: Business Insider, Harvard University

Harvard is in Massachusetts, which declared a state of emergency on Tuesday. As of Friday, there are over 100 confirmed cases in the state.

Source: Business Insider

Harvard has 10,000 international students from 155 countries. While students can apply to stay on campus, and applications will be considered for certain circumstances like international students from a country that the CDC says to avoid traveling to ...

Source: The Harvard Crimson, Harvard International Office

... there are no automatic exemptions, and the university said it is only reviewing "a small number of applications by students seeking to remain on campus."

Source: The Harvard Crimson, The Harvard Crimson, The Harvard Gazette

There are more than 36,000 students at Harvard. 15% of those enrolled in the undergraduate program are first-generation students, while more than 20% are on full financial aid.

Source: The Harvard Gazette

Some Harvard students say they can't afford to get home, they don't have a place to go, or they rely on income from employment at Harvard.

Source: The Harvard Crimson, The Harvard Crimson

"The only equalizer at Harvard is the fact that we all live together and have the same accommodation," Nick Wyville, a student, told the Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper. "We live together, we eat the same food, we have the same faculty resources ..."

"... but if you take away campus living and residential life then you take away that equalizer," Wyville continued.

Another student, Tomasz Wojtasik, said he was kicked out of his parents' home because of his sexuality a year ago. Wojtasik told Insider he doesn't know where he'll go. "I barely kept from crying," he said.

Source: Business Insider

"I've managed for the past summer and winter break, but now I have five days to figure out what I'm going to do," Wojtasik continued.

Source: Business Insider

Aside from finances and finding a place to go, some students also worry about how they'll do course work from their remote locations.

Source: The Harvard Crimson, The Harvard Crimson

Some students live in rural communities with limited internet access, while others live in different time zones. "Let's say I have to go back to Japan. That means its a 13 hour time difference. When you guys are taking the actual session, I should be sleeping," student Satoshi Yanaizu told the Crimson.

Source: The Harvard Crimson, The Harvard Crimson, Business Insider

Daniel Lobo, the president of the First Generation Harvard Alumni Group, started a GoFundMe to help students displaced by Harvard's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Source: Insider

Harvard received an endowment of $49.3 billion in 2019, and people have criticized the university for not doing more to help students in need. Donors specify the purpose of about 80% of Harvard's endowment funds, according to the school website.

Source: Insider

Harvard will reimburse travel costs home to students receiving financial aid or with a $0 parental contribution.

Source: Harvard University

Harvard is also giving students with financial aid up to $200 to ship their belongings home or $200 in credit to a storage facility.

Source: Harvard University

The Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences extended all major academic due dates by one week to give students time to adjust.

Source: The Harvard Gazette

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'I barely kept from crying': Schools and universities throw students into panic after telling them to leave campus and take classes online amid coronavirus fears