Yeshiva University
Sprawled across four campuses in New York City, Yeshiva University (YU) is one of America’s oldest Jewish higher-education institutions. Yeshiva seeks to impart a distinctively Jewish education and support a Jewish lifestyle according to Modern Orthodox Judaism, while also furnishing its 6,000 undergraduate and graduate students with a rigorous secular program of study in the liberal arts and professional fields.
Yeshiva’s seriousness about furthering the Jewish intellectual tradition finds institutional expression in the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought, which uses interdisciplinary coursework, events, and publications to engage in a Jewish style of civic education that prepares “Orthodox intellectual leaders” familiar with their own religious tradition and the broader Western canon.
Yeshiva lacks a full-fledged Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) office (though the Cardozo School of Law does have an office of Community & Professional Development, Diversity & Inclusion). An Office of Talent Management and Equity Compliance deals chiefly with Title IX compliance.
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) places a “Warning” designation on YU, as it does for certain other religious institutions. This is due to instances in which Yeshiva prioritizes fidelity to its religious values above student expression. For example, a controversy over whether Yeshiva should recognize a student group called the YU Pride Alliance reached the Supreme Court in 2022. As part of a settlement in that case, Yeshiva agreed to recognize an LGBTQ club. As an Orthodox Jewish institution, Yeshiva expects students to adhere to halacha (Jewish law), which entails certain restrictions on speech and conduct. This is no secret to prospective students and parents.
No official policy restricts admission to Jewish students alone, but undergraduates are virtually all Jewish. Some professors and a large proportion of graduate students are not Jewish. Among the faculty and the student body, there appears to be a diversity of political views, albeit with a socially conservative skew, due to the influence of the religious tradition that underpins YU’s mission. Professors generally enjoy academic freedom but are expected not to teach in a way that directly contradicts Orthodox Jewish values.
The school’s motto is “Torah Umadda” (Torah and secular knowledge), a philosophy reflected in a dual curriculum consisting of Jewish studies and secular learning. In general, students spend the morning studying Torah, Talmud, Jewish law, and more. In the afternoon, they turn to mainstream academic subjects in the humanities, sciences, and business. The secular curriculum includes a strong required core of writing, literature, STEM, social science, and other subjects. YU boasts a low student-to-faculty ratio, at 7 to 1, and strong mentoring resources.
Student life is strongly shaped by the Orthodox tradition, with kosher dining halls, prayers throughout the day, and communal observance of Shabbat. In keeping with historical Jewish educational practice, men and women study separately at YU—men in Yeshiva College, women in the Stern College for Women.
Yeshiva students earn an average salary of $49,000 following graduation. Considering that the average cost of a degree from YU is $151,012 after financial aid (which more than three-quarters of students receive), it takes 3.4 years following graduation to pay back the cost of the education, a longer period than our 2.3-year average. YU has struggled financially for most of the twenty-first century, running an operating deficit since 2004. In the financial audited statement ending in June 2023, the most recent year for which information is available, its operating costs outstripped revenue by some $16 million.