Commentary: Make sure college students are vaccinated

Donna Gaffney and Teri Mills, Progressive Perspectives on Oct 14, 2026

Published in Op Eds

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During back-to-school season, college students and their parents can easily overlook what should be a priority: vaccinations. For students who have missed recommended vaccines, college can be the moment when that decision suddenly has consequences.

Many colleges and universities require documentation of vaccinations such as MMR (measles, mumps and rubella), meningococcal, Tdap and varicella. A student who cannot meet a school’s requirements may face a registration hold or find that a long-ago health decision has suddenly become an enrollment problem.

College campuses are uniquely vulnerable to the fast spread of infectious diseases. This was highlighted in 2025 at Ohio State University, when one case of meningococcal disease led to exposure concerns for almost 1,300 students. Those who may have been exposed experienced contact tracing and were offered preventive antibiotics — a major and unsettling public health response sparked by a single case.

In March, two Colorado middle and high schools excluded 80 students and adults from school for 21 days based on three measles cases. In September, San Diego County health officials reported multiple confirmed cases of mumps within a single athletic team at San Diego State University.

These are not abstract cases. They are reminders that, when disease enters a school community, the consequences can be immediate: isolation, missed classes, disrupted teams and activities, risk of spread to friends and families, and, in some cases, exclusion from campus housing.

The University of Northern Colorado makes the stakes exceptionally clear: “If even a single measles case is confirmed at UNC, state and county public health officials will collaborate with the university to orchestrate a significant public health response. This may include exclusion from campus for 21 days or more for: anyone who tests positive for measles, anyone who cannot provide evidence of immunity to measles … and/or anyone who has been exposed to measles and does not have evidence of immunity.”

This is why vaccination should be a priority.

Today, at least 23 states require college and university students to be vaccinated for measles. Many, if not most, educational institutions also have a vaccine waiver process. Students and their parents might not realize how a decision to forgo a measles vaccination could result in missing classes and even exclusion from campus and their dorms during a quarantine period.

Parents don’t have to wait for a college registration hold or an outbreak to find out whether their teenager is protected. The American Academy of Pediatrics’ immunization schedule offers parents a roadmap for staying ahead of vaccine-preventable diseases. Before college applications, dorm move-in or athletic participation, parents can review their child’s immunization record with their healthcare provider, identify any missed or overdue vaccines, and make a plan to catch up. A few minutes of prevention now can help protect a young adult and the classmates, roommates and teammates they’ll soon be living alongside.

This isn’t about blame or shame. Parents are managing more information, more choices and more pressures than ever. At college age, young people are growing into their independence. The child who once looked to a parent for every healthcare decision is now a young adult making choices about their own health. That freedom should come with accurate information.

The question is not whether teenagers are still “children” when it comes to vaccinations. They are not. The better question is whether we are preparing them for the places and communities they are about to enter.

A college acceptance letter represents a door opening. Before our young people walk through it, let’s make sure they have the information, documentation and protection they need to stay healthy and to help protect the classmates, roommates and teammates who will join them.

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Donna A. Gaffney is a California-based nurse, psychotherapist and author. Teri Mills, a resident of Oregon, is a nurse and former president of the National Nursing Network Organization. Both are leaders with Defend Public Health. This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, a project of The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.

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