The atmosphere for Jewish students on college campuses nationwide has somewhat improved in the last year, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s second annual Campus Antisemitism Report Card, released on Monday.

Several universities saw significant improvement in their scores compared to last year’s report card — which was released as antisemitism roiled campuses in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel and ensuing war between Israel and Hamas.

Forty-six percent of previously graded schools improved, while only 9% declined. The ADL gave 36% of schools an “A” or “B” in this year’s report card, up from 23.5% in 2024. It assessed 135 schools — 50 more than last year — using 30 evaluation criteria to assign letter grades from A to F.

“While many campuses have improved in ways that are encouraging and commendable, Jewish students still do not feel safe or included on too many campuses,” Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL’s CEO, said in a statement. “The progress we’ve seen is evidence that change is possible — all university leaders should focus on addressing these very real challenges with real action.”

Despite modest improvement, Greenblatt cautioned, “Every single campus should get an ‘A’, this isn’t a high bar — this should be the standard.” He called on “all university leaders [to] focus on addressing these very real challenges with real action.”

The schools that received “A” grades were Brandeis University, CUNY Queens College, CUNY Brooklyn College, Elon University, Florida International University, University of Alabama, University of Miami and Vanderbilt University. 

Failing schools — those that received “F” Grades — were California Polytechnic State University, DePaul University, Evergreen State College, Haverford College, Loyola University New Orleans, Pitzer College, Pomona College, Portland State University, Scripps College, The New School, University of California Santa Barbara, University of Illinois Chicago and University of Minnesota.

Twenty percent of schools received a “D,” including Barnard College, where a staff member was assaulted and sent to the hospital last Wednesday by anti-Israel demonstrators who stormed the college’s main administrative building.

The ADL released its first campus report card in April 2024 — and a revised version two months later.

The schools selected for the report card were among the country’s top liberal arts colleges, in addition to schools with the highest enrollment of Jewish students, according to the antisemitism watchdog group. 

At the time, Shira Goodman, senior director of advocacy for the ADL, told Jewish Insider that the idea to rank universities’ handling of antisemitism came about prior to Oct. 7. But the attacks sped up the process, Goodman said, noting that “when there are problems in the Middle East, it tends to increase antisemitism at home.” 

Some Jewish leaders and organizations, including Hillel, the most prominent group serving Jewish students on college campuses, which typically has a good relationship with the ADL, criticized the inaugural report card. “We do not believe it is constructive or accurate to try to assign grades to schools,” Adam Lehman, Hillel’s CEO, told JI at the time. “Efforts to do so, however well-intended, produce misleading impressions regarding the actual Jewish student experience at those schools.”