A: With public health restrictions being rolled back and COVID-19 vaccinations continuing to progress, UCLA is offering a substantial in-person learning experience in the fall.

• Close to 80% of courses are offered in person, as well as most labs.
• Large lectures are primarily being conducted remotely, with corresponding discussion sections held primarily in person.

Our expectation is that every student will receive at least some in-person instruction. For those unable return to campus at this time, there are still a number of remote courses available to support continued progress toward their degree.

Based on public health guidance, adjustments could be made to classroom density or enrollment limits for in-person instruction. While we do not believe it will be needed, the campus will develop a contingency plan to reduce in-person learning and other activities should that become necessary.

A: All UCLA students and personnel, including non-degree educational program participants on campus, are required to be fully vaccinated. Narrow exemptions and exceptions will be allowed based on medical, religious and disability grounds, along with deferrals due to pregnancy.

Visit UCLA’s Return to Campus website for the latest information.

A: UCLA faculty members are committed to accommodating students who cannot be in class due to isolation and quarantine protocols or because they haven’t been cleared by the Symptom Monitoring Survey through video or audio streaming or recordings, makeup assignments and assessments, alternative projects or other means. Instructors have been informed that students’ absences due to isolation or quarantining or a failure to clear the daily symptom check should not factor into any attendance component of students’ final grade.

Students needing to isolate or quarantine are encouraged to notify their course instructors as soon as possible and explain their circumstances. If an instructor requires a medical note, students can visit the Arthur Ashe Student Health & Wellness Center’s patient portal, and select the medical excuse option under “Messages.”

Students who are significantly sick with COVID-19 may qualify as being temporarily disabled and receive support from the Center for Accessible Education following an interactive process with the instructor.

A: Students who are immunocompromised, have disabilities or special medical circumstances that make them more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 may seek reasonable academic adjustments by:

• Contacting the UCLA Center for Accessible Education (CAE), which will review requests from students to reorder course sequences for their health and safety, seeking to ensure that immunocompromised and other students do not lose opportunities to take required courses in a timely way.
• Requesting notes from CAE, which is assigning notetakers to attend in-person classes and provide notes and/or individual recordings of the lectures for those students who have been granted accommodations.

A: The UCLA COVID-19 Response and Recovery Task Force has been hosting a series of virtual town halls to update faculty, staff and students on the progress of UCLA Health’s vaccination distribution process. To stay updated on vaccine-related developments including booster shots, please visit the UCLA COVID-19 Vaccine Information Hub.

A: Yes. UCLA is requiring all students, faculty, other academic appointees and staff learning, living or working at UC locations to get their flu vaccines by Nov. 19, 2021. Students who are noncompliant are subject to an academic hold. Information about where to find vaccination sites, how to schedule a vaccine and insurance coverage can be found here. UCLA had previously required flu vaccines by Nov. 1, but the deadline was extended to Nov. 19.

Those who file for an exception will be required to wear face masks on campus through the end of flu season even if COVID-19 protocols are lifted.
To document your vaccine or to file for an exception, please do the following:

1. Navigate to the UCLA COVID-19 Symptom Monitoring and Vaccination Verification System.
2. Click the green “Flu Vaccine Verification” button at the top of the page.
3. Select your UCLA affiliation.
4. Enter your Single Sign-On login credentials and follow the prompts.

A: Proof of “full vaccination” requires a government-issued photo identification AND one of the following: a vaccination card (which includes name of person vaccinated, type of vaccine received and date last dose administered) OR a photo of the attendee’s vaccination card as a separate document OR a photo of the attendee’s vaccination card. The event location manager or ticket taker at the entrance should request proof of full vaccination be shown prior to entry. However, such records will not be collected or stored and no further inquiries are permitted about vaccination status or lack thereof.

People who do not have clearance may be asked to leave or denied entry to an event. Students who are not in compliance with policy may be referred to the Dean of Students Office for the Student Conduct Process.

Beginning Nov. 4, for all people age 18 and over, UCLA will require proof of vaccination and a valid ID or a negative test result and an approved medical or religious exemption in order to enter the locations listed here. UCLA students and staff can present the clearance they receive from their daily COVID-19 Symptom Monitoring Survey via the UCLA Mobile app. The email version of the symptom survey clearance confirmation will not be accepted.

A: In alignment with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, regular COVID-19 surveillance testing will no longer be required for fully vaccinated students, faculty and staff who are living, learning or working on campus although they are highly encouraged to test at least once per week. (Fully vaccinated individuals are those who are 14 days past having received their final dose of a vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration or the World Health Organization.)

Unvaccinated individuals working, learning or living on campus or other UCLA property are required to participate in twice-weekly testing.

More information is available on the UCLA Ashe Center’s COVID-19 testing website and community screening FAQ page.

Beginning July 12, 2021, saliva swab tests are being offered by Swab-Seq, a COVID-19 detection method developed by a team affiliated with UCLA Engineering’s Computational Medicine Department and the David Geffen School of Medicine. Up to two tests per week are available to active BruinCard holders at no charge up to two tests a week through vending machines at roughly a dozen locations on campus. UCLA will continue to operate at least one in-person testing site at 300 Bradley Hall for those needing assistance or further accommodation. Additional information is available on the UCLA Ashe Center’s COVID-19 testing website.

The mobile testing unit operated by the UCLA Ashe Center was discontinued June 11, 2021.

A: Daily symptom checks are currently required for students, faculty, staff (including UCLA Health employees) and others (including visitors, guest lecturers and laboratory volunteers) who are living, learning or working on campus or at other UCLA properties, regardless of their vaccination status.

Take the symptom monitoring survey

The survey, which can be completed on a smartphone, tablet or computer, should take no more than five minutes. Individuals will need to receive a daily clearance certificate from the survey.

The UCLA Mobile app, which is available on the App Store and the Google Play Store, now includes access to the Symptom Monitoring System.

A: The temporary protocol for a safer resumption of indoor and outdoor organized events on the UCLA campus was posted on Oct. 5, 2021 and is in effect until at least Dec. 1, 2021.

Meetings, receptions, conferences and colloquia are allowed on campus in alignment with guidance from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

At indoor events, face masks are required, regardless of vaccination status or the size of the event. All individuals at indoor events with 1,000 or more attendees are also required to show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or documentation of a negative COVID-19 test within the previous 72 hours.

At outdoor events with more than 1,000 attendees, face masks are required for all individuals, except when they are actively eating or drinking. All non-UCLA community members attending an indoor or outdoor organized event will have to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test in the previous 72 hours.

UCLA community members (faculty, staff, students and visitors) attending an indoor or outdoor organized event must show their UCLA COVID-19 Symptom Monitoring Clearance Certificate from the day of the event as part of the entry procedures.

A: The temporary protocol for a safer resumption of indoor and outdoor organized events on the UCLA campus posted on Oct. 5, 2021, and is in effect until at least Dec. 1, 2021.

Face masks are required to be worn outdoors for large-scale events (1,000 or more attendees), with certain exceptions associated with new COVID-19 cases and outbreaks on campus. (Unvaccinated members of the Bruin community must comply with additional non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as wearing masks at all times when around others.)

UCLA recommends that individuals, even those who are vaccinated, wear a mask when outside in large groups in which physical distancing of at least three feet is not feasible.

A: Information on daily reported COVID-19 cases among members of the campus community can be found on the UCLA COVID-19 resources page. As of Sept. 23, 2021, this page also reports the percentage of UCLA students, faculty and staff who are fully vaccinated.

A: Eight separate pivot points — including increased UCLA or regional rates of breakthrough cases, increases in UCLA or regional positive tests, increases in COVID-related deaths in the region, decreases in available ICU beds, decrease in available isolation capacity or contract-tracing capacity — will result in implementation of additional health and safety protocols or a scaling down of in-person activities.

Pivots ranging from an increase in remote learning to limitations of campus activities will be triggered based on an increase in those eight factors and the severity of increase in those factors.

This is addressed in the document titled UCLA COVID-19 Pivot Plan and Decision Matrix. This document can also be found on the COVID site protocols page.

A: Engineers are problem solvers. At UCLA, we have not shied away from challenges presented by COVID-19. Our computer scientists and engineers have been collaborating with colleagues at the David Geffen School of Medicine and UCLA Health to develop urgently needed personal protective equipment, cutting-edge testing methods, predictive models adopted by the CDC and vaccine boosters. And there are numerous creative student-led efforts as well.

You can read the highlights of UCLA Samueli COVID-related research projects and press coverage here.

A: Please visit the New Student Programs website for details. On a case-by-case basis, students may submit a written request for a deferment to another term if they have significant extenuating circumstances. For students deferring to later quarters, there could be issues with certain classes due to missing specific prerequisites taught in earlier quarters.

A: International students who have not been able to come to the U.S. will be able to join us this fall by enrolling in on-site courses. Visit the Dashew Center’s website for additional guidance for international students.

A: Auditing classes will be up to each individual professor’s discretion. If you’d like to audit a specific class, you can email the professors and they may be able to add you as a participant to the CCLE page and allow you to access course material.

A: If students cannot attend in-person classes, professors should consider the best means to provide instruction to these students. This can include allowing the student to arrange for the classes to be recorded through Zoom. Many classrooms are equipped for BruinCast Video or Audio or Zoom streaming and professors are encouraged to record their lectures.

A: UCLA is not subject to any classroom density limitations. There are no caps on the number of students in a classroom beyond the normal room capacity. See UCLA’s Protocols for Fall 2021 Instruction from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Task Force and the Academic Personal Office.

A: In some cases, students may not be wearing a face mask simply because they forgot to put one on. Complimentary disposable face masks are available at the John Wooden Center for students who do not have a face mask. If a classmate is not wearing their face mask properly, you may ask them to adjust it to cover their nose and mouth if you are comfortable doing so. You may also ask your professor or instructor to remind students of the face mask requirement and ask them to put on their face mask or adjust it.

Faculty members are encouraged to consider the following:

If an individual student who is out of compliance with campus COVID-19 mitigation measure refuses to comply and refuses to leave upon request, remember that they are not likely to be a significant threat to others who are wearing face masks and complying with campus policies.

If a student refuses to leave upon request, instructors may consider ending the class or shifting it to remote instruction for the day, though they are cautioned to carefully consider whether the risk posed by a single non-compliant student justifies the learning disruption for the rest of the students. All such incidents should be reported to the Office of Student Conduct at or 310-825-3871. See the CRRTF’s FAQ on classroom management for details. UCPD should not be contacted in such cases as UCPD is not charged with enforcement of the face mask requirement or other COVID-19 mitigation requirements.

Reports of violations will result in a determination, expected to be made within one business day, of whether the violation was willful or not. People with willful violations, multiple violations and violations believed to have resulted in infection will face measures up to and including exclusion from campus.

A: Please see the LACDPH website for the current guidelines (revised May 11, 2021). UCLA has its own requirements regarding wearing masks indoors.

A: The Sunset Canyon amphitheater lawn, tennis courts, Mapes beach volleyball courts, Park Pool and Family Pool, Drake Stadium fitness zones, Marina Aquatic Center in Marina Del Rey, Kinross Recreation Center and the John Wooden Center are open at reduced capacity and limited hours for UCLA students, staff, faculty, emeriti faculty and retirees with a reservation. Users must complete the Return to Rec membership process prior to making a reservation.

Updates will be added to the UCLA Recreation website.

UCLA Library resumed onsite services at most of its library locations on Sept. 13, 2021, and will steadily ramp up to normal operations. Libraries are open to current BruinCard holders and face masks must be worn upon entering regardless of vaccination status. Visit UCLA Library’s Fall 2021 Opening FAQ page for more information.

The Hammer Museum and Fowler Museum are now open to the public. Face masks must be worn at all times while visiting the museums.

The Fowler Museum at UCLA currently has on display The Map and the Territory: 100 Years of Collecting at UCLA (postponed as part of UCLA’s Centennial celebration) and Photo Cameroon: Studio Portraiture, 1970s–1990s.

A: Students receiving financial aid can find answers related to such changes on the Financial Aid and Scholarships website. The university is not changing policies and procedures regarding declaring nonattendance or withdrawal.

A: UCLA Samueli offers a variety of undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships that help remove some of the financial barriers for promising students. These may be awarded on the basis of financial need, academic merit or other criteria, and all current or incoming undergraduate/graduate students are welcome to apply. Matriculated graduated students are eligible to apply for the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship.

If you are an undergraduate or incoming freshman/transfer student, click here to view information and application instructions for a UCLA Samueli scholarship.

If you are a graduate student or candidate, you may search for fellowships available to UCLA graduate students.

A: UCLA remains committed to supporting students during these unprecedented times. We recognize that students may be experiencing a variety of challenges and financial hardship.

If you are experiencing a financial crisis beyond available financial aid resources, please contact the Economic Crisis Response Team (ECRT) by completing the ECRT Self-Assessment Intake Form.

For information on submitting appeals or other general Financial Aid related questions, please visit the Financial Aid & Scholarships website.