These Are the Colleges Requiring Vaccine Boosters Now

These colleges require at least one COVID-19 bivalent booster for the 2023-2024 school year. Some of the biggest colleges still require initial COVID-19 vaccines but don't require boosters.

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Updated on October 19, 2023

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By and

Edited by

Updated on October 19, 2023

Learn more about our editorial process

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BestColleges found fewer than 50 schools nationwide that require the COVID-19 bivalent booster.
Wake Forest University and Bowdoin College were some of the first schools to embrace the bivalent booster in 2022.
President Joe Biden ended the COVID-19 national and public health emergencies earlier this year.

While some colleges and universities are dropping COVID-19 vaccination requirements, others still require that students get the initial vaccination series along with a bivalent booster or that they get just one booster shot.

BestColleges found schools that either require students get the bivalent booster to replace the original monovalent vaccination series or that they be up to date on COVID-19 vaccines and boosters according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.

President Joe Biden signed a bill that led to the end of the COVID-19 national and public health emergencies earlier this year. Before then, many colleges that had required the original vaccine reversed their requirements for a booster as the pandemic became more endemic.

Once Biden signed the bill, many colleges removed COVID-19 vaccine requirements altogether for the 2023-2024 school year. Some, however, told students that since COVID-19 is still present, they are requiring the booster vaccine and encouraged students to receive the new booster released in September.

The new booster targeting the COVID-19 EG.5 "eris" variant, the most prevalent variant over the summer, has been released. However, Politico reported that the World Health Organization has not labeled the predominant variant as concerning.

Wake Forest University in North Carolina and Bowdoin College in Maine were among the first colleges to embrace bivalent booster shots in 2022. Now, they no longer require any COVID-19 vaccinations.

BestColleges has been tracking schools that require COVID-19 bivalent boosters in the updated list below.

Colleges Requiring COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shots

Last Updated: October 17, 2023, at 3:27 P.M. EST

California

American Jewish University
California College of the Arts
Dominican University of California
Pitzer College
Saint Mary's College of California
Santa Clara University
- SCU requires the COVID-19 primary series plus a booster or one dose of the bivalent/updated vaccine.
University of San Francisco
University of the West

Georgia

Agnes Scott College
Morehouse College

Illinois

Rush University
Saint Augustine College

Indiana

DePauw University

Massachusetts

Harvard University
- This may be through the initial primary series of COVID-19 vaccination or one of the most recent COVID-19 boosters.
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Wellesley College

New Jersey

Rutgers University
- On the Camden, Brunswick, Newark campuses: One updated bivalent booster replaces requirements for original doses. Clinical students must receive one updated bivalent booster or the original COVID-19 monovalent vaccination series plus a monovalent or bivalent booster.

New York

Bank Street College of Education
Bard College
- Bard requires all students, faculty, and staff to have up-to-date immunization against COVID-19 as per current CDC guidelines.
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
The Juilliard School
- Juilliard requires all members of the Juilliard community — students, faculty, and staff, to have completed an original primary COVID-19 vaccine series or one dose of an updated bivalent COVID-19 vaccine.

Ohio

Methodist Theological School in Ohio
Oberlin College and Conservatory
The College of Wooster

Oregon

Reed College

Pennsylvania

Cabrini University
Haverford College
Salus University
Seton Hill University
- COVID-19 Vaccine: primary series plus one booster or one Bivalent COVID Vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna).
University of Pittsburgh

Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown, Pittsburgh Campus, Titusville
To be fully vaccinated an individual must have completed a primary COVID-19 series of vaccine doses as authorized or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or World Health Organization (WHO) or have received a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine.

South Carolina

Wofford College

Tennessee

American Baptist College

Texas

Seminary of the Southwest

Vermont

Landmark College
- Two doses of the original monovalent vaccine plus one booster (monovalent or bivalent), or:
  A single dose of the updated Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 bivalent vaccine.

Virginia

Sweet Briar College

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.