University officials said they had been monitoring the outbreak since early December, but the semester in Shanghai had already begun.
In addition to the return of those students, the university is also suspending its Shanghai International Program for the spring semester, a decision that was made based on the entire situation, including the spread of the virus and related travel warnings, officials said.
With student safety as our highest priority in response to the coronavirus outbreak in China, Pepperdine has made the decision to suspend the Shanghai International Program for the Spring 2020 term. Learn more: https://t.co/7s7MFJNCV1
— Pepperdine University (@pepperdine) January 28, 2020
"I am very sad because I just got there and I was planning to stay there until April so it's going to be very different when we get back to Malibu," said Arielle Leviste, an international student.
Coronavirus outbreak: US quarantines American evacuees from China at Riverside military base
Meanwhile, nearly 200 Americans are quarantined at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside after arriving Wednesday from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak. It's the first time in half a century the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has taken such a step.
The new virus is a cousin to the SARS and MERS viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past. Since December, it's sickened thousands, mostly in China, and killed more than 200.
What is coronavirus? What US health officials know about outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China