American Jewish University No Longer Accepting Undergrad Students
American Jewish University in Los Angeles, California. Image by Wikimedia
By Aiden Pink October 8, 2018
American Jewish University announced Friday that it would “pause” undergraduate admissions and eliminate its current curriculum.
Recruiting for next year’s class will stop immediately, but the roughly 70 active students in the current undergraduate program will be able to complete their degrees, university president Jeffrey Herbst said in a statement.
“For decades, AJU has committed itself to serve its communities through diverse offerings for all ages – from children through our retirees – but has never been able to grow the undergraduate program to a size where it can provide a deep and broad educational experience,” Herbst said. “As a result, we have made this difficult decision to pause current undergraduate programming, but plan on using this opportunity to examine how best we can serve the young adult population looking for a unique academic and cultural experience.”
The plan, which has been approved by the university’s board of directors, will not affect AJU’s other programs, such as its rabbinical school or graduate schools. No faculty will be laid off due to this change, the university said.
Herbst, the former president of Colgate University and the Newseum in Washington, D.C., has been president of AJU since July. He said that AJU would be creating a working group to develop “a cutting-edge program that takes advantage of new technology and pedagogy in academics, and we view this opportunity as a unique chance for a university to fully engage in fresh thinking regarding undergraduate education.”
AJU also runs conference centers and a Jewish summer camp, among other programs. The university said in a statement that it is “healthy financially.”
Do you have more information about American Jewish University’s decision? Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Fast Forward On his first trip to Auschwitz, New Jersey governor urges vigilance against rising antisemitism
-
Fast Forward Survivors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7 embrace at Auschwitz, marking annual March of the Living
-
Fast Forward Could changes at the FDA call the kosher status of milk into question? Many are asking.
-
Fast Forward Long Island synagogue cancels Ben-Gvir talk amid wide tensions over whether to host him
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion Yes, the attack on Gov. Shapiro was antisemitic. Here’s what the left should learn from it
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit to a Jewish society at Yale exposed deep rifts between US Jews
-
Fast Forward On his first trip to Auschwitz, New Jersey governor urges vigilance against rising antisemitism
-
Fast Forward Survivors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7 embrace at Auschwitz, marking annual March of the Living
-
Fast Forward Could changes at the FDA call the kosher status of milk into question? Many are asking.
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.