August 2025

As summer days grow shorter, for families, it brings the start of a new school year. That usually means new school supplies and clothes, but it also means ensuring your child has received all the vaccinations required by your state to attend school and protect against infectious diseases.

Requirements for some vaccines vary by state. To find out the specific requirements for your state, visit www.immunize.org/laws.

Vaccines for starting school

If your child attended daycare or preschool, or you have followed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendations for childhood immunizations, your child probably already has all or most of the required vaccines. Schools will need documentation from your child’s doctor’s office or local public health office confirming their vaccination status.

For children starting kindergarten, all states require:

• DTaP to protect against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough)
• MMR to protect against measles, mumps, and rubella
• Polio vaccine
• Varicella to protect against chickenpox, sometimes combined with the MMR vaccine.

Many states also require vaccines for hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), and hepatitis A. Even if not required, the CDC recommends these vaccines for lifelong protection.

Vaccines after kindergarten

After kindergarten, most states don’t have additional vaccine requirements until middle school or junior high. For ages 11 to 18, students typically need:

• Tdap: Required in all states for protection against tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough.
• Meningococcal ACWY (MenACWY) is required in all except 15 states, with some requiring a second dose.

Some states require the HPV vaccine for students entering seventh grade. Check your local state’s guidelines for more information.

Vaccines for college-bound teens

The immunizations required for college vary by state and school. Nearly all colleges and universities require the same vaccines as K-12 schools. Some have additional requirements, including the hepatitis B and MenACWY vaccines, to protect against bacterial meningitis. The CDC recommends a MenACWY booster at age 16 to maintain strong protection against bacterial meningitis. People living in close quarters, such as college dorms or military barracks, are at a higher risk of contracting meningitis.

College-bound teens may also want to consider the HPV vaccine if they have not previously received it.

Flu and COVID-19 vaccines

Some states require the flu vaccine for children entering childcare or pre-K, but not for school-age children. As of March 2025, no states require the COVID-19 vaccine for students entering kindergarten through 12th grade. Some universities or colleges might require a flu or COVID-19 vaccination.

Even if not required, the CDC recommends that all students receive the flu or COVID-19 vaccines each year to prevent illness. According to the CDC, more than 25,000 children and teens aged 5-17 were hospitalized for flu in the 2023-2024 season.

The annual COVID-19 vaccine reduces the risk of contracting COVID-19 and passing it on to others, as well as complications, such as long COVID-19 or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).