Dozens of Colleges Still Require COVID Vaccines for Students

One Atlanta-area college has even reinstated a mask mandate and social distancing.

Over three years after the advent of the coronavirus pandemic, educational mask and vaccine mandates are increasingly uncommon. However, as the new school year is set to begin, a handful of colleges remain holdouts, especially when it comes to COVID vaccine mandates for incoming students.

While several states had plans to enact perpetual COVID-19 vaccine mandates for some students, all appear to have dropped those proposals. In October 2021, California announced it would require COVID vaccinations for middle and high school grades. However, officials scrapped the mandate in February 2023. Illinois ditched a college student–specific mandate in 2022, and D.C. public schools, after pushing back the start date of a COVID vaccine mandate for students 12 and older several times, appears to have quietly abandoned the proposal.

However, while state governments have stopped attempts to mandate masking and vaccines in schools, a handful of individual colleges are still holding onto restrictive pandemic-era policies. 

According to No College Mandates, a website that tracks COVID-related mandates on college campuses, over 60 universities require a COVID-19 vaccine to attend, including Harvard University, Rutgers University, and Johns Hopkins University. 

"Harvard requires all students who will be on campus to have primary vaccination for COVID-19," reads Harvard's website. "As we work to continue the high levels of vaccination needed to protect our community, Harvard highly recommends being up-to-date per the CDC definition for all Harvard community members."

Just how many colleges still mandate masks remains much less clear. While many colleges affiliated with hospital systems have mask mandates related to students and staff working in health care settings, it's not obvious how many schools still mandate masks in classrooms or other non-health-care-related student events.

However, at least one college is enforcing draconian COVID restrictions. This week, Atlanta-based Morris Brown College announced a battery of COVID-19 mitigation policies for the next two weeks, "due to reports of positive cases." These mandates include a broad mask mandate, physical distancing, a ban on on-campus parties and large gatherings, and "temperature checks" when students arrive on campus.