Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
submittedVersion
Publication Date
7-2026
Abstract
Nearly 700 4-year U.S. colleges mandated students receive COVID-19 vaccinations in fall 2021. Using data on college policies and county health, we estimate how mandates affect surrounding communities. Event studies from August to November 2021 show that mandates covering all colleges in a county reduced COVID-19 deaths by 5.6 per 100,000 persons, a 4.6% reduction in the U.S. total during this period. Mandates reduced COVID cases by 504 and ICU admissions by 16.2 per 100,000, though we see no statistically significant impact on hospitalizations. Impacts are larger in counties with larger college populations and low estimated ex-ante student vaccination rates.
Keywords
COVID-19, vaccine mandates, higher education, public health, disease spread, vaccination policy
Discipline
Health Economics | Public Health
Research Areas
Applied Microeconomics
Areas of Excellence
Digital transformation
Publication
The Journal of Human Resources
Volume
61
Issue
4
First Page
1
Last Page
67
ISSN
0022-166X
Identifier
10.3368/jhr.0123-12743R2
Publisher
University of Wisconsin Press
Citation
ACTON, Riley K.; CAO, Wenjia; COOK, Emily E.; IMBERMAN, Scott A.; and LOVENHEIM, Michael F..
The effect of vaccine mandates on disease spread: Evidence from college COVID-19 mandates. (2026). The Journal of Human Resources. 61, (4), 1-67.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soe_research/2882
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.0123-12743R2