I think allowing positive students to isolate/quarantine at home is fairly typical. I think the objection earlier to JMU’s approach was that they had a spike and sent every student back to their community when maybe some of them hadn’t been tested yet?
At any rate, I have a kid at another university (not in VA) who tested positive and came home to isolate (away from the rest of the family). No symptoms, thank goodness, and no spread.