What Colleges Require the COVID-19 Vaccine?

The Federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency ended on May 11. Since then, some colleges are communicating changes to students while others are quietly removing vaccine requirements from their web pages.
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Published on Oct 11, 2021
Updated Jun 01, 2023
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The likelihood of your school requiring the COVID-19 vaccine has decreased significantly for the next school year.

President Joe Biden signed a bill in April that immediately ended the COVID-19 national emergency and ended the public health emergency on May 11, 2023.

Many colleges announced the end of their COVID-19 vaccine requirements days after Biden signed the bill. More colleges ended their vaccine mandates around May 11 and others are set to expire in July.

"Our response to the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, remains a public health priority, but thanks to the Administration's whole of government approach to combatting the virus, we are in a better place in our response than we were three years ago, and we can transition away from the emergency phase," the Department of Health and Human Services wrote.

BestColleges found a variety of university responses to handling the now-endemic COVID-19 disease. Some have chosen to keep their vaccine requirements and treat them like regular vaccination requirements like measles, mumps, and rubella.

Other colleges and universities have either entirely removed COVID-19 resource websites or haven't updated them since early 2022.

Check your school's website to learn about your school's COVID-19 vaccine requirements. You can also review our full list below, which includes colleges requiring the COVID-19 vaccine for on-campus, residential students.

A Full List of Colleges Requiring the COVID-19 Vaccine

Last Updated: June 1, 2023, at 2:43 P.M. EST

States A-G

Chevron Down

ALABAMA | ALASKA | ARIZONA | ARKANSAS | CALIFORNIA | COLORADO | CONNECTICUT | DELAWARE | DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA | FLORIDA | GEORGIA

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

  • Diné College
  • Prescott College

Arkansas

  • Arkansas Baptist College

California

  • American Jewish University
  • Berkeley City College
  • California College of the Arts
  • California Instititute of the Arts
  • California Institute of Integral Studies
  • California Institute of Technology
  • California Jazz Conservatory
  • Claremont Graduate University
  • College of Alameda
  • Dominican University of California
  • Harvey Mudd College
  • Holy Names University
  • Laney College
  • Menlo College
  • Merritt College
  • Occidental College
  • Otis College of Art and Design
  • Pepperdine University
  • Pitzer College
  • Porterville College
  • Saint Mary's College of California
  • Samuel Merritt University
  • Santa Clara University
  • Scripps College
  • Soka University of America
  • Southern California Institute of Architecture
  • University of California system
    • Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz
  • University of Redlands
  • University of San Francisco
  • University of the Pacific
  • University of the West
  • Western University of Health Sciences
  • Whittier College

Colorado

  • Rocky Vista University
  • University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

Connecticut

  • Connecticut College
  • Mitchell College
  • Post University
  • Wesleyan University

Delaware

  • Delaware State University

District of Columbia

  • Gallaudet University
  • Trinity Washington University

Florida

Georgia

  • Agnes Scott College
  • Morehouse College
  • Morris Brown College
  • Oglethorpe University
  • Spelman College

States H-M

Chevron Down

HAWAII | IDAHO | ILLINOIS | INDIANA | IOWA | KANSAS | KENTUCKY | LOUISIANA | MAINE | MARYLAND | MASSACHUSETTS | MICHIGAN | MINNESOTA | MISSISSIPPI | MISSOURI | MONTANA

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

  • Bradley University
  • Columbia College Chicago
  • Dominican University
  • Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
  • Illinois Institute of Technology
  • Lake Forest College
  • Lake Forest Graduate School of Management
  • Methodist College
  • Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
  • Rush University
  • Saint Augustine College
  • Southeastern Illinois College
  • Spertus College

Indiana

  • DePauw University
  • Goshen College
  • University of Indianapolis
  • Valparaiso University

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

  • Simmons College of Kentucky

Louisiana

  • Southern University system
    • Southern University and A&M College, New Orleans, Shreveport, Law Center
  • Tulane University

Maine

  • College of the Atlantic
  • Unity College

Maryland

  • Goucher College
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • St. John's College

Massachusetts

  • Anna Maria College
  • Brandeis University
  • Endicott College
  • Framingham State University
  • Hampshire College
  • Harvard University
  • Lasell University
  • Lesley University
  • Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
  • New England Conservatory of Music
  • New England Law | Boston
  • Smith College
  • Wellesley College
  • Westfield State University

Michigan

  • Michigan School of Psychology
  • University of Michigan system
    • Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Flint
  • Wayne State University *Only for students in university housing

Minnesota

  • Augsburg University
  • Hamline University
  • Macalester College
  • Minneapolis College of Art and Design
  • Mitchell Hamline School of Law
  • University of Minnesota
    • Crookston, Duluth, Morris, Rochester, Twin Cities

Mississippi

Missouri

  • Washington University in St. Louis
  • William Jewell College

Montana

States N-S

Chevron Down

NEBRASKA | NEVADA | NEW HAMPSHIRE | NEW JERSEY | NEW MEXICO | NEW YORK | NORTH CAROLINA | NORTH DAKOTA | OHIO | OKLAHOMA | OREGON | PENNSYLVANIA | RHODE ISLAND | SOUTH CAROLINA | SOUTH DAKOTA

Nebraska

  • University of Nebraska Medical Center

Nevada

  • Touro University Nevada

New Hampshire

  • Franklin Pierce University

New Jersey

  • Felician University
  • Rutgers University
    • Camden, Brunswick, Newark
  • Stockton University

New Mexico

New York

  • Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
  • Albany Law School
  • Bank Street College of Education
  • Bard College
  • Colgate University
  • College of Mount Saint Vincent
  • Hamilton College
  • Hilbert College
  • Hobart William Smith Colleges
  • Jewish Theological Seminary of America
  • Le Moyne College *PA/OT/Nursing students only
  • Manhattan College
  • Maria College
  • Marymount Manhattan College
  • Russell Sage College
  • St. Bonaventure University
  • The Juilliard School
  • The New School
  • Wells College

North Carolina

  • Bennett College
  • Johnson & Wales University-Charlotte
  • Salem College
  • Shaw University

North Dakota

Ohio

  • Antioch College
  • Denison University
  • Kenyon College
  • Methodist Theological School in Ohio
  • Oberlin College and Conservatory
  • Ohio Wesleyan University
  • The College of Wooster
  • University of Toledo

Oklahoma

Oregon

  • Reed College

Pennsylvania

  • Allegheny College
  • Bryn Athyn College of the New Church
  • Bryn Mawr College
  • Bucknell University
  • Cabrini University
  • Chestnut Hill College
  • Gwynedd Mercy University
  • Haverford College
  • Immaculata University
  • La Salle University
  • Moore College of Art and Design
  • Neumann University
  • Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
  • Robert Morris University
  • Salus University
  • Seton Hill University
  • Swarthmore College
  • University of Pittsburgh
    • Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown, Pittsburgh Campus, Titusville
  • Widener University
  • Williamson College of the Trades

Rhode Island

  • Community College of Rhode Island
  • Johnson & Wales University-Providence
  • Rhode Island College
  • Rhode Island School of Design

South Carolina

  • Wofford College
  • Benedict College

South Dakota

States T-Z

Chevron Down

TENNESSEE | TEXAS | UTAH | VERMONT | VIRGINIA | WASHINGTON | WEST VIRGINIA | WISCONSIN | WYOMING

Tennessee

  • American Baptist College

Texas

  • Rice University
  • Seminary of the Southwest
  • Southwestern University
  • St. Edward's University

Utah

Vermont

  • Bennington College
  • Landmark College
  • Vermont Law School
  • Vermont State Colleges system
    • Castleton University, Northern Vermont University, Vermont Technical College

Virginia

  • Norfolk State University
  • Sweet Briar College

Washington

  • Bastyr University
  • Bellevue College
  • Evergreen State College
  • Pacific Lutheran University
  • Pacific Northwest University
  • Whitman College

West Virginia

Wisconsin

  • Beloit College
  • Lawrence University

Wyoming

Note that this list covers COVID-19 vaccine requirements for 2023-2024 on-campus or residential students and does not specify individual university policies such as vaccine exemptions. Some colleges may require all students, regardless of their residential status, to get vaccinated. Faculty and staff vaccine requirements may be different from the residential student requirements listed above.

Don't see your school on this list? Reach out to contact@support.bestcolleges.com if your college or university still requires the COVID-19 vaccine. Please include the relevant vaccine page link or email.


Editor's Note: This article is updated regularly as new information becomes available. Reporting and data collection for this piece has been provided by Jessica Bryant, Anne Dennon, Darlene Earnest, Reece Johnson, Hannah Muniz, Rachel Schneider, Evan Castillo, Chloe Appleby, and Jordan Stewart-Rozema.