Fresno State and other California State University campuses are planning for students to be able take classes in-person again starting next fall, the CSU system announced Wednesday.

That will come more than a year after most classes were shifted online because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Fresno State President Joseph Castro, who will become CSU chancellor on Jan. 4, said the decision to plan for returning to in-person classes comes at an appropriate time, since high schoolers and transfer students are facing a Dec. 15 deadline to complete their applications for fall admission.

Chancellor Timothy P. White said university officials wanted to give students and their families as much advance notice as possible, much the same as when the university system announced during the summer that most fall semester classes would remain online.

‘Light at The End of The Tunnel’

Even though coronavirus cases are surging now, White said, officials are hopeful that the arrival of vaccines in coming months will quell the pandemic before or by next fall.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel with the promising progress on vaccines,” White said.

That light might not be bright enough for summer semester classes to return to in-person instruction, however.

The CSU said the decision of whether to remain with distance learning or return to in-person instruction will be made closer to when students can register for summer semester.