New Jersey Colleges Requiring COVID-19 Vaccine: See The List

NEW JERSEY — Hundreds of U.S. colleges nationwide, including nearly every single college or university in New Jersey, are now requiring students be vaccinated for coronavirus.

Students will be asked to upload their vaccine card to university portals before they can return to on-campus dorms or classes in September. Kean University is telling students if they do not upload their vaccine card by this Sunday, Aug. 1, they will be de-registered from fall classes.

Two New Jersey colleges, however, are allowing students to decline to be vaccinated based on the grounds that the COVID vaccines have only received emergency-use authorization, and not full approval from the Food & Drug Administration.

Those schools are Rowan University in Glassboro and Monmouth University in West Long Branch. No New Jersey community college is requiring students or staff be vaccinated, either.

To date, nearly 600 colleges and universities across America will require students, faculty, staff or a combination of the three to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before coming back to campus, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Rutgers was the first college in the country to mandate the vaccine of its students, with Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway announcing the requirement in late March.

Since then, schools such as Harvard, Penn, Brown, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, Notre Dame and NYU have all followed Rutgers' lead. Currently, Dartmouth University is the only Ivy League college not mandating students be vaccinated in order to return to campus.

There has been some pushback to vaccine mandates: In May, about 400 Rutgers students, parents and a handful of Republican lawmakers organized this protest on campus in New Brunswick.

"Why should students like me be forced to take a vaccine that is currently still experimental?" said Sara Razi, a 21-year-old Rutgers junior from Freehold who organized the protest. "We don't know the long-term side effects for 18-, 19-year-olds. A vaccine should be a personal choice made by me and my doctor."

Also, Monmouth County Republican state Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso introduced this bill to take away state funding from any New Jersey college that mandate the vaccine. But her bill failed to pick up any backers in Trenton.

"Very sad," she told Patch this week.

While Gov. Phil Murphy has said he supports vaccine mandate for college students, his Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli has been more reluctant, saying in March that he is against requiring the vaccine both at colleges and for K-12 students.

New Jersey colleges requiring only students be vaccinated:

• Rutgers (campuses in New Brunswick, Newark and Camden): The first college in the nation to require students get the COVID vaccine. Vaccines are required for students, but faculty is only encouraged.
• Kean University, in Union: Vaccines are required for students, but faculty is only encouraged.
• Montclair State University, in Montclair: Vaccines are required for students, but faculty is only encouraged.
• Fairleigh Dickinson University, in Teaneck: Vaccines are required for students, but faculty is only encouraged.
• Rider University, in Lawrenceville: Vaccines are required for students, but faculty is only encouraged.
• Drew University, in Madison: Vaccines are required for students, but faculty is only encouraged.
• The College of New Jersey, in Ewing: Requires the vaccine for students and is currently "in discussions with its unions" to require staff get it as well, according to NJ.com.
• Ramapo College, in Mahwah: The vaccine is only required for students.

New Jersey colleges requiring both students and staff be vaccinated:

• Princeton University, in Princeton: Students, professors and all faculty and staff must show proof of being vaccinated.
• New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), in Newark: Students, professors and all faculty and staff must show proof of being vaccinated.
• Seton Hall University, in South Orange: Students, professors and all faculty and staff must show proof of being vaccinated.
• Stevens Institute of Technology, in Hoboken: Students, professors and all faculty and staff must show proof of being vaccinated.
• Saint Peter's University, in Jersey City: Students, professors and all faculty and staff must show proof of being vaccinated.
• Stockton University, in Galloway: Vaccines are required for students and now faculty as well, by Sept. 1.

New Jersey colleges allowing students to decline based on the vaccines' EUA status:

• Rowan University, in Glassboro: The South Jersey college said: "Students may opt out of the vaccination requirement for medical or religious reasons. Students may opt out of the vaccination requirement in accordance with guidelines for the emergency use authorization of the current vaccines." However, unvaccinated students who live in dorms will be required to undergo weekly COVID testing.
• Monmouth University, in West Long Branch: The University is requiring all students and faculty be fully vaccinated. However, the school said on its website: "The university will allow individuals to petition for a vaccination exemption on medical or religious grounds, or on the basis of the COVID vaccine's current emergency use authorization status."

As the delta variant continues to spread across the country, the number of colleges requiring the vaccine will likely climb. Daily average coronavirus cases in the United States are hovering near 35,000, a 200 percent increase from 14 days ago, according to a database compiled by The New York Times. Deaths are also up 75 percent.

American colleges will also be battling a decline in the number of people seeking vaccines. Demand has slowed considerably in recent weeks and, currently, just under 60 percent of all adults in the United States are considered fully vaccinated.

So far, colleges have typically taken four different approaches, according to a report by U.S. News & World Report. While some are fully requiring vaccines, others are offering students incentives to voluntarily get immunized. Some are waiting to see if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration fully approves a vaccine. Others, like many colleges in the Midwest, are simply not requiring the vaccine.

Currently, all COVID-19 vaccines in use in the United States have received emergency use authorization by the FDA, a status that some experts say makes mandating the vaccine a “legal gray area,” U.S. News reported.

Once the FDA fully approves a vaccine, colleges should have no difficulty requiring it, especially considering most already require students to provide proof of other vaccinations.

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