Facebook Inc. announced today that it has gone back to its roots and developed a new social network only to be used on U.S. college campuses.

The network, called “Campus,” will have a News Feed, Groups, an events section and a group chat rooms called “Campus Chats.” Students will also have access to a directory where they can find other students. Unlike Facebook, none of the Groups or events will be able to be made public, although they can be made private from others on the Campus app.

“In the early days, Facebook was a college-only network, and now we’re returning to our roots with Facebook Campus to help students make and maintain these relationships, even if they’re away from their college,” said Charmaine Hung, the product manager behind Campus.

In a blog post, Facebook said the introduction of such a service came about because more students these days are learning remotely or semi-remotely. Such distance learning isn’t ideal for making new friends and socializing, so the app might improve relationships, said the company.

Although the apps are completely separate, if someone is blocked on Facebook they’ll be blocked on Campus and vice versa. What is shared on Campus is only available to people who use Campus, Facebook said.

The app will be part of the Facebook app but only accessible by students who have a college email. They’ll also need to submit their graduation year, information about what they study, their classes and hometown. The profile photo, cover photo, hometown and name will automatically be migrated from Facebook proper, but once in Campus new information, they can upload more information.

This is a work in progress and will be available at the start at only 30 U.S. colleges. Some of those include California Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Wesleyan University and Georgia State University. Harvard University, where Facebook was born, is not on the list.

As with Facebook, activity will be monitored so people will see ads that are relevant to them. Campus data will also affect what the person sees on Facebook.

Photo: Sterling College/Flickr