Reform Judaism magazine has published this worthwhile list of the top 60 North American universities and colleges with the largest numbers of Jewish students as well as their proportion of the overall student body.

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themiddle

10 Comments

  • A bit disappointed (but not surprised) that it doesn’t list campuses with kosher meal plans.

  • It seems that the list should be organized by percentage of population and not number of Jews, because large schools are then overrepresented. It doesn’t make sense to say that 4,500 Jews go to York College for any reason other than they liked the school, if only 9% of the population is Jewish. When the percentage of total population is so low, it is pretty safe to say that the Jews didn’t choose to go their for the Jewish atmosphere, as much as the myriad other reasons why Jews choose a college.

  • Good point about meal plans. I imagine most places with Hillel centers have kosher meal plans, I know UF does.

  • Brandeis’ # is low, imo. I’m surprised how much Tulane has dropped. Is it because of Katrina?

    Kosher meal plans are one thing, a kosher cafeteria is another, imo.

  • Daniel,

    When I was deciding on schools, I read about the process. IIRC, it was a self selection, at some point in the testing process. So of course the numbers are not that accurate. But if they’re all off, we can at least get a relative sense. That being said, all 4 years at Brandeis, the common refrain was, “it sayd 50ish%, but it’s really 70+%”

  • I’m mortified. Is it just me, or is UC Berkeley not even on the list?! R3 will never let me hear the end of this; Austin at #9!

    lol Percentage of YU: “TBD”. Hehe, what is it really, 99%?

  • HI all,
    So I am a rabbi at UF Hillel. Crazy number of Jews here. I have been told by many there are more than what is listed here. With that said, the methods for creating these numbers are defintely dubious.