Schools boost antisemitism grades in ADL report but students say hostility persists
FIRST ON FOX: The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released its 2026 Campus Antisemitism Report Card, revealing a discrepancy between universities' improved policies and students' experiences with anti-Jewish hate.
The report card assessed 150 colleges and universities using 32 criteria that fell into three categories: administrative policies, Jewish life on campus, campus conduct and climate concerns. The number of colleges and universities receiving As and Bs on their report cards more than doubled since 2024, going from 23.5% to 58%. Additionally, the ADL noted that grades of 47% of the 135 schools assessed in 2025 improved in 2026. The grade distribution among the colleges and universities included 23 As, 64 Bs, 53 Cs, 6 Ds and 4 Fs.
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt credited three things for the improved grades among colleges and universities: improved policies on campus, oversight from the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers and pressure from outside organizations.
"The truth is that campuses are now enforcing their policies and driving better practices. It's improved. There's just no doubt that we've seen a range of different institutions realize that extremism on their campuses needs to be confronted," Greenblatt told Fox News Digital.
The report details a series of policy changes that appear to align with Greenblatt’s assessment of improved policy enforcement and implementation.
The ADL noted that as of the publication of its 2026 report card, "94% of the 150 schools assessed prohibit both unauthorized encampments and event disruptions on campus, and the remaining 6% prohibit at least one of those." Additionally, 46% of the 150 schools explicitly reference antisemitism in their non-discrimination or related policies. The organization also found that 54% of the schools it assessed have formal entities dedicated to addressing antisemitism and supporting Jewish life on campus.
The Trump administration and Republican political leadership have also played a role in combating antisemitism on campus, according to Greenblatt.
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"The Trump administration, irrespective of where you stand on the political spectrum, absolutely focused on this issue. And ensure that administrators understood they would face consequences for not doing better. By the way, not just the Trump administration, I should say also the House and Senate. So, there's been a degree of oversight on campuses that simply wasn't the case before," he added.
In March 2025, the U.S. Department of Education's (DOE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent letters to 60 universities under investigation for antisemitic discrimination and harassment. The DOE said the letters warned of possible consequences for institutions that violated Title VI. The universities that received letters were located across the country and included Ivy League institutions.
Beyond the work of the school administrations and the government, the ADL's work also played a role in improving the grades by providing "empirical fact-based, transparent" ways to hold schools accountable and creating an incentive for them to improve, Greenblatt said.
Officials from American University, CUNY Brooklyn College and the University of Pennsylvania were quoted in the ADL report praising the anti-hate organization's educational materials. CUNY Brooklyn College Vice President of Student Affairs Ron Jackson called the ADL Campus Webinar Series "invaluable," saying it "helped us assess where we stand and where we need to improve to address antisemitism effectively and advocate for a safer, more supportive campus climate."
Despite the institutions' improved grades, students are still reporting experiencing or seeing anti-Jewish incidents on campus.
The ADL found that nearly half of all non-Jewish students, 48.3%, reported witnessing or experiencing anti-Jewish behavior in the past year. Additionally, the organization found that about 47.6% of non-Jewish students endorsed at least one anti-Jewish attitude, with more entrenched views concentrated in a smaller subset, with 19.2% holding three or more. The findings come from a January-February 2026 survey of 1,007 undergraduate students from across the U.S.
In the report on non-Jewish students' perceptions of Jews and Israel, the ADL noted that "anti-Jewish bias is widely visible on campus." The organization also stated that most students support institutional action.
Greenblatt suggested that a major misconception of antisemitism that plagues universities is the idea that anti-Zionism is a political stance, rather than one of prejudice.
"The idea that anti-Zionism is just a valid view is kind of like saying eugenics is a valid science. It is not... and anti-Zionism, this kind of nihilistic view that Israel has no right to exist, and it should be destroyed. That's not a legitimate, if you will, political philosophy. That's a recipe for inciting violence against people," the ADL CEO told Fox News Digital.
When asked about the gap between administrative action and students' experiences, Greenblatt emphasized the need to address faculty attitudes about Judaism and Israel, as well as ensuring that schools are implementing the antisemitism training that they have claimed to adopt.
"Better policies and improved practices definitely create an environment that is safer for Jewish or Zionist, or kids who support Israel, however they choose to identify. That doesn't necessarily mean though that the lived experience of every Jewish student is that much better," Greenblatt told Fox News Digital.
"We need to make sure that we continue to address other areas like the attitudes and the practices of faculty, which continue to be a problem. We need continue to ensure that issues of antisemitism taken seriously. Far too few students, despite what the schools have said, have actually been trained or gotten orientation on antisemitism," he added.
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Greenblatt acknowledged that the root of the problem goes beyond the classroom, explaining that students may be seeing antisemitic information or influence online. He encouraged a "360 degree approach" to tackling antisemitism on campuses, noting that it happens "in the classroom, in the dorm, on the quad" and online.
The ADL CEO warned that campus progress remains fragile, particularly as the war with Iran rages. While there has not been an explosion of antisemitic activity on campuses like what was seen after Hamas' Oct. 7 massacre, there have been those who claim that Israel pressured the U.S. into launching Operation Epic Fury. Greenblatt said he is worried that the pervasive narratives online could soon make their way onto campus.
"Since the Iran war began just over a week ago, we haven't seen the explosion of protests on college campuses that we saw after 10/7. That's a good thing. But we are seeing on social media and in other online spaces a great deal of blaming of the Jewish state or the Jewish people for this war," Greenblatt said. "I worry that as this war goes on, blaming the Jewish state or the Jewish people will amplify, and those voices will grow louder. And it could contribute to, again, Jewish individuals or Jewish institutions being targeted."
Greenblatt, though, said that universities can act to prevent another campus flash point and quell tensions before unrest starts.
"University leaders have a huge role to play in this. University leaders have a critical role to play to quell potential protests before they start," he said. "I believe students have the right to exercise free speech, freedom of assembly... But that doesn't mean that freedom of speech is freedom to incite violence against your classmates."
While colleges have earned higher marks on paper, the findings suggest that policy changes have not fully eradicated antisemitism from campus life. Leaders of educational institutions now face the challenge of showing that new policies impact students.