Amid campus protests, some teens and parents reconsider enrollment decisions

Earlier this year, an 18-year-old high school senior from New York City had planned to enroll at Columbia University’s sister school Barnard College in Manhattan as an early decision student. But after her parents saw heightened tensions over the Israel-Gaza conflict surface across some US campuses, including at Barnard and Columbia, they went back to her list.

Earlier this year, an 18-year-old high school senior from New York City had planned to enroll at Columbia University’s sister school Barnard College in Manhattan as an early decision student. But after her parents saw heightened tensions over the Israel-Gaza conflict surface across some US campuses, including at Barnard and Columbia, they went back to her list. The student, who spoke to CNN under the condition of anonymity over privacy concerns, ultimately chose Brandeis University in Massachusetts, one of only two schools on the Anti-Defamation League’s 2024 list of 85 colleges that received an A grade for its response to antisemitic incidents on campus and its support for Jewish students. “Barnard was my top choice. I was so dead set on going,” said the private school student, who is Jewish. “But after seeing what is happening on campuses, I feel so glad I am going to Brandeis. I feel really happy and safe knowing they got an A.” The student’s mother said reconsidering where her daughter attends in the fall was a family decision. “We know these issues are happening everywhere, but we prioritized how the university administration was responding, how many Jews are on the campus and if it had a Jewish community,” she said. Other families also have been grappling with where to send their high school students in the fall as campus protests continue to play out at schools around the country, even as the final deadline fast approaches.