Colorado colleges and universities have been among the state's superspreaders of COVID-19. The most recent outbreaks report from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment documents disease surges at dozens of institutions and entities affiliated with them, ranging from sports teams to fraternities and sororities — and several of the flare-ups have been big. For example, the April 14 report counts 2,854 student infections at Colorado State University and 3,218 student cases along with another 238 involving staffers at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Yet when we contacted fifteen major colleges and universities across the state to find out if vaccinations will be required for students signed up for the fall 2021 term, we discovered that only two have issued a mandate so far: Fort Lewis College in Durango and the University of Denver, which made its announcement on April 20. The rest encourage vaccinations but stop short of making them a requirement — though a handful note exceptions, hint that their policies aren't set in stone or acknowledge that they simply haven't settled on a final decision.