Over 100 US Universities Have Announced COVID Vaccine Requirements for Fall 2021

With COVID-19 vaccines now widely available across the United States, a growing number of US colleges will require students to be inoculated before returning to campus in the fall.

Only a month ago, Rutgers University became the first US university to announce it will require all students enrolled in the fall 2021 semester to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to campus. The university cited President Biden’s expectation that all adults in the US could have access to at least one inoculation dose by early summer, therefore making a fully vaccinated student body a reasonable possibility come September. In the weeks since Rutgers’ March 25th statement, many other colleges across the US have followed suit, with the list of schools announcing mandatory vaccines for the coming semester now exceeding 100.

Just last week, the California State University and University of California systems both announced they will require all students, staff and faculty to be vaccinated if they plan to be on campus in the fall. Given the large size of both university systems, this decision will impact more than 1 million people.

The Ivy League was quick to join the list of US universities to announce a COVID vaccine requirement, with Cornell and Brown among the first five schools in the country to do so early this month. In a statement, Cornell said given widely expanded vaccine eligibility in some US states alongside increasing vaccine production, “it is likely that all members of our community will be able to obtain vaccination sometime this spring or summer.” Brown noted with the instatement of a vaccine requirement, it expects to provide “normal residential, co-curricular and athletic experiences” for students.

Similar announcements came last week from Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth and UPenn. Harvard has yet to join the pack with a formal requirement, but the university is  strongly encouraging students to get vaccinated before the fall semester begins.

Other top universities that have made COVID vaccines mandatory include Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Northeastern, NYU, Duke and many more. As of 26th April, the complete list of US universities to require students and staff to be vaccinated before returning to campus is as follows. However, the list is constantly growing — so if you’re curious about a university that isn’t listed here, we encourage you to visit their website to confirm!

• American University
• Assumption University
• Barnard College
• Bennington College
• Boston College
• Boston University
• Bowdoin College
• Bridgewater State University
• Brown University
• California State University system
• Claremont McKenna College
• Clark Atlanta University
• Cleveland State University
• College of the Atlantic
• Columbia College Chicago
• Columbia University
• Cornell University
• Dartmouth College
• DePaul University
• DigiPen Institute of Technology
• Drexel University
• Duke University
• Emerson College
• Emory University
• Fairleigh Dickinson University
• Fitchburg State University
• Fordham University
• Fort Lewis College
• Framingham State University
• George Washington University
• Georgetown University
• Grinnell College
• Hampshire College
• Hampton University
• Harvey Mudd College
• Holy Cross College
• Ithaca College
• Johns Hopkins University
• Kenyon College
• Lasell University
• Lawrence Technological University
• Le Moyne College
• Lehigh University
• Lewis & Clark College
• Loyola University Chicago
• Macalester College
• Manhattanville College
• Maryville College
• Massachusetts College of Art and Design
• Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
• Massachusetts Maritime Academy
• Menlo College
• Montclair State University
• Morehouse College
• Morgan State University
• New York University
• Northeastern University
• Nova Southeastern University
• Oakland University
• Paul Quinn College
• Pitzer College
• Pomona College
• Princeton University
• Rensselaer Polytechnic Insitute
• Roger Williams University
• Rutgers University
• Saint Mary's College
• Salem State University
• Samuel Merritt University
• Sarah Lawrence College
• Seattle University
• Simmons University
• Smith College
• Southern New Hampshire University
• Spelman College
• St. Edward's University
• St. John's University
• Stanford University
• Stevens Institute of Technology
• Syracuse University
• Trinity Washington University
• Tufts University
• University of California system
• University of Denver
• University of Massachusetts Amherst
• University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)
• University of Notre Dame
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Puget Sound
• University of Rochester
• University System of Maryland
• Universiy of San Diego
• Vassar College
• Wake Forest University
• Weslyen University
• Westfield State University
• Williamette University
• Williams College
• Worcester State University
• Yale University

With COVID restrictions still affecting students around the world, many US universities have announced they will extend their test-optional policies for at least another year. To learn more about how to navigate standardized testing limitations, check out our blog on AP courses as a great alternative to the SAT and ACT. From there, if you’ve still got questions — we’ve got answers! Click the link below to schedule a free one-hour consultation with one of our expert academic advisors to learn how Crimson can help.