A new report in The Atlantic highlights a growing shift among Jewish college students, who are increasingly turning away from Ivy League campuses and choosing schools in the South.
According to the article by Rose Horowitch, Jewish enrollment at elite Northeastern universities had already been declining before the past two years of campus upheaval. The protests that followed Israel’s response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks have accelerated that trend, with many Jewish families now reconsidering the Ivy League experience altogether.
Selective colleges outside the Northeast have taken notice, with some stepping up efforts to attract Jewish applicants. Meanwhile, data compiled by Hillel shows that Jewish undergraduate populations at Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, and the University of Pennsylvania fell by 3 to 5 percent between 2023 and 2025.
As The Atlantic reports, much of the recent anti-Israel activism—and the antisemitism accompanying it—has centered on a handful of elite campuses. For many Jewish students, this has made Southern schools seem like not just an alternative, but a better option.
Source: The Atlantic, “College-Age Jews Are Heading South” by Rose Horowitch