US colleges are making substantial progress on campus antisemitism, ADL says

The Anti-Defamation League released an updated report card Monday assessing how US colleges combat antisemitism and protect Jewish students.

The report, which uses a grading system of A to F, evaluated 135 schools — an increase from 85 schools in the first report. The first ADL campus report card was released in April 2024 in response to rising antisemitism on college campuses after the Hamas terror attack on October 7, 2023.

In the latest report card, 45% of the schools evaluated in the last academic year improved, while only 9% declined — a positive sign for combating antisemitism on campuses, the civil rights advocacy group said. In total, 36% of schools received an A or B grade, up from 23.5% the year before. Just under 10% of schools received an F, which was slightly below the percentage that received an F in the last report.

“While many campuses have improved in ways that are encouraging and commendable, Jewish students still do not feel safe or included on too many campuses,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the ADL, said in a statement.

Threats to Jewish people in the United States tripled in the one year after the October 7 terrorist attack, the ADL previously found, and incidents of antisemitism have surged in the country and around the globe — an alarming trend largely led by younger people.

The ADL’s report card uses a 30-point grading system to evaluate colleges and universities on criteria including policies toward addressing antisemitism, the prevalence of antisemitic incidents on campus, and the climate of inclusion and support for Jewish students, faculty and staff.

“I said it last year and I’ll say it again: Every single campus should get an A. This isn’t a high bar — this should be the standard,” said Greenblatt.

Harvard goes from an F to a C

Eight schools received an A in the 2025 report card, up from just two the year before, the ADL said.

Harvard University received a C, moving up two grades from an F the year before. Ivy League peers the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell Universityeach received a C, up from a D. Columbia University remained at a D.

Dartmouth College received the highest grade among Ivy League schools with a B, up from a C.

More than 50% of the schools evaluated in 2024 implemented policy changes in response to rising campus antisemitism, the ADL said. Thirty-three percent of schools saw a one-letter grade increase from the year before, and 12% saw their score improve by two letter grades.

“The improvement on campus is largely due to new administrative initiatives implemented in response to the campus antisemitism crisis,” said Shira Goodman, the vice president of advocacy for the ADL.

To be sure, evaluating campuses is a nuanced process, and receiving an A or B grade does not mean the school has zero problems with antisemitism, according to the ADL.

The 2023-2024 academic year saw widespread incidents of antisemitism on campus. Since the last academic year, universities have introduced task forces on antisemitism, heightened security measures and clarified policies toward protests. Universities including Harvard in recent months have settled lawsuits over allegations of antisemitism.

In January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order focused on combating antisemitism at US colleges, heightening the pressure on administrators to crack down on campuses. The Department of Education on February 3 launched probes into allegations of antisemitic harassment at five universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley.

Additionally, the Justice Department formed a task force to combat antisemitism and announced on February 28 that it would visit 10 schools embroiled in allegations of antisemitism, including Harvard, Northwestern University and the University of Southern California.

The schools that consistently enforced their policies, mandated education on antisemitism and improved reporting on bias saw the biggest improvements on campus climate, according to the ADL.

The schools that received an A include Brandeis University, CUNY Queens College, Elon University, the University of Miami and Vanderbilt University. Brandeis and Elon were the only schools to receive an A in 2024.

The schools that received an F include Pomona College, Portland State University, the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Minnesota.

Notably, the ADL said, schools including the University of Michigan, Tufts University and SUNY Rockland Community College moved up two letter grades.

In total, the ADL gave out eight A grades, 41 B grades, 45 C grades, 28 D grades and 13 F grades to a total of 135 schools. In 2024, it gave out two A grades, 18 B grades, 32 C grades, 24 D grades and nine F grades to a total of 85 schools.

“The progress we’ve seen is evidence that change is possible — all university leaders should focus on addressing these very real challenges with real action,” said ADL’s Greenblatt.