In honor of my Jewish students and friends on this first day of Chanukah, I've decided to use today's post to talk about colleges that serve the Jewish community in various ways. I'm guessing that if you are Jewish, you've already heard about all of these schools, so this post is mostly intended to expand the awareness of my fellow goyim.
American Jewish University (Los Angeles, CA)
This is a school I've become intimately familiar with because I've toured a couple times and sent a few of my special ed students there...and they love it. AJU has a total undergrad population of approximately 120 students (yes, really) and all classes happen in one building, which also contains the cafeteria and administrative offices. They give lots of tuition assistance and the financial aid staff--all two of them--will sit down with prospective parents to help them fill out their FAFSA.
If you peek into the classrooms you will see 8-10 students meaningfully engaged in discursive learning with a passionate professor. (The Jewish faith is known for encouraging dialogue and even argument about important topics.) Around noon, everyone eats together in the kosher dining hall. During one of my tours, when discussing the meal plan, I made an offhand comment about "girls who don't eat." The admissions counselor said very matter-of-factly, "We'd notice. We don't let that happen here." And I believe her. AJU is dedicated to building a family-like community and keeps its population small to facilitate this ideal.
Though the vast majority of their students are Jewish and the campus activities and calendar revolve around Jewish tradition, AJU offers a range of majors, such as Bioethics, Poli Sci and a joint BA/MBA program. They also have a well-respected graduate program in Non-Profit Management.
Yeshiva University (New York, NY)
I have never toured a Yeshiva campus (there are several around the country) but their mission seems clear to me: Bringing wisdom to life by combining the finest contemporary academic education with the timeless teachings of Torah. Male and female students study separately at Yeshiva in keeping with orthodox tradition.
Yeshiva offers a wider range of majors than AJU--more comparable to a typical liberal arts college. And according to their website, "The applicant’s character, personality and contribution to school and community life are (big) factors in the admission decision," along with SAT/ACT scores, essay and interview.
This school participates in a "Joint Israel" program, which encourages students to spend their post-high school year in Israel before beginning their freshman work at the college.
Year in Israel
Several of my male, special ed students have spent their first year out of high school in Israel before coming back to the U.S. to begin college. They have all returned as changed men, and I do mean "men." During that year they seem to find their inner strength, their drive, their connection with their heritage, their sense of personal responsibility, and their identity. I cannot honestly name another one-year program for young adults that demonstrates such consistently profound effects. I'm not quite sure what goes on over there during that year but I suppose it's not for me to know, as long as my grads keep coming back as more mature, more focused versions of the boys that I shipped off a year earlier.
Large Numbers of Jewish Students On Campus
The U.S. universities that boast the highest number of Jewish students are:
NYU (New York, NY) #1 Private
Boston University (Boston, MA) #2 Private
University of Florida (Gainesville, FL) #1 Public
University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL) #2 Public
(I have to admit, the Florida schools surprised me, but you learn something every day, right?)
As a matter of pride, I want to note that one of my local schools, Santa Monica College, is the only community college to make the list of the top 30 schools for Jewish students in the whole country.
Hillel--Jewish Community On Campus
Last but not least, Hillel is an on-campus organization at most large colleges and many smaller colleges that offers Jewish students a built-in community for celebrating holidays and rituals, as well as providing a milieu in which students can bond with their peers. The parent Hillel organization will even help with funding to establish a new program on campuses that don't currently have one.
I hope you have found this information, well, informative. I will focus on unique educational opportunities for other segments of our population (e.g. Historically Black Colleges, men's and women's colleges) in the future.
