Colleges hope students get vaccinated but face some pushback.

Colleges hope students get COVID-19 vaccines for fall semester – but can they require it? Hundreds of colleges plan to require students to receive COVID-19 vaccines for the fall semester, despite conservative lawmakers' criticism. Chris Quintana USA TODAY

After more than a year of online classes, regular coronavirus tests and mask mandates, most of the nation’s colleges are gearing up for what passes for a  normal return to campus in the fall.

The widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines is making that possible, but colleges are likely to remain wary. Though nearly half of adult Americans are fully inoculated, only about 30% of 18- to 24-year-olds have reached that benchmark, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

College students pose a high risk to efforts to control the pandemic. Last September, counties home to universities suffered many of the nation’s worst COVID-19 outbreaks. But colleges are determined to find ways to resume full, in-person courses. Students and professors struggled with online learning, and universities lost revenue tied to in-person costs such as dorms, meal plans and even athletics. 

... some colleges will require students to provide proof they received COVID-19 vaccines.

So far, about 400 or so colleges plan to require that students who wish to learn in-person receive the Johnson & Johnson, Moderna or Pfizer shots, according to a list compiled by the Chronicle of Higher Education. 

Both public and private universities have issued coronavirus vaccine mandates for students, though state colleges in Republican-controlled states have been more likely to eschew such requirements. The American College Health Association, a trade group of college health care providers, recommended colleges require the vaccine for in-person  classes where "state law and available resources allow."

Almost all of the nation's 4,000 degree-granting colleges, however, are encouraging or helping their students to get their COVID-19 shots. The University of Florida has not issued a vaccine mandate, but has hosted a massive vaccination clinic that aimed to inoculate thousands of students daily. And some colleges are even offering incentives such as cash, university swag or tuition-free courses, according to Inside Higher Ed....

Most universities require students to be inoculated against measles, meningitis and other diseases. Part of the controversy this time stems from the Food and Drug Administration's OK of the COVID-19 vaccines via an emergency authorization order.

Some have argued this temporary authorization should prevent universities from requiring the shots. But coronavirus tests themselves were also approved via an emergency authorization order, and those have been in frequent use at campuses nationally.

Legal concerns aside, universities that require the shots are likely to experience pushback from anti-vaccine groups. Rutgers University in New Jersey was the first major institution to roll out a mandate, and it's been the subject of protests and challenges. ...

In Arizona, public universities are banned from mandating COVID-19 shots, though private institutions are not. Texas’ order bars any institution receiving public money from issuing a vaccine mandate, which would include some private universities. But even state-level restrictions may be more confusing than helpful...