Two local universities are ending their mask mandates for most indoor spaces.

American University president Sylvia Burwell announced on Tuesday that starting March 21, masks will be optional for students and staff in most campus spaces, like classrooms, labs, office spaces, residence halls, dining facilities, event spaces, libraries, and fitness centers. (American University owns the license for WAMU, DCist’s parent company). Last Friday, Georgetown University also announced plans to drop its indoor mask requirement on March 21, if the university’s positivity rate remains low as students return to campus this week from spring break. (During the week of March 6-March 12, the university reported a positivity rate of 1.03%). On both campuses, masks will continue to be required on school-provided transportation and in medical facilities. Both schools also require students to be fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID.

“Community members may choose to wear a high-quality mask in any setting or location based on their personal preferences or situations,” reads Burwell’s announcement. “We know that individuals who are immunocompromised, have children under five who cannot yet be vaccinated, or who are caring for at-risk family members may wish to continue masking.”

The announcements both cite the most recent DC Health guidance, issued March 8, which reversed the universal masking policy for educational facilities and childcare centers. Following that updated guidance, D.C. Public Schools announced it would be ending its indoor mask mandate this Wednesday.

Other city schools, including Trinity Washington University, the University of the District of Columbia, Howard University, and George Washington University still have mask mandates in place, per each school’s website. Most universities shape their policies to align with the city’s health department, however, so more schools could soon update their requirements. (For example, George Washington University’s most recent communication on masking, dated March 1, notes that the school aligns with the DC Health guidance that previously recommended masking in school settings.)

American and Georgetown join schools including Catholic University, University of Maryland and George Mason University, both of which made masks optional for most indoor settings earlier this month. have mask-optional policies for most indoor settings.

DC Health no longer reports COVID cases daily, but the city recorded a weekly case rate of around 56 cases per 100,000 residents — constituting low community spread — in the first week of March.

This post has been updated to reflect that Catholic University dropped its indoor mask mandate earlier this month.