Jul 17, 2026 · 25 min · 10 segments
Last academic year colleges and universities across the US struggled with whether to mandate COVID vaccinations for their students. While colleges often require vaccines, the political controversy…
Riley ActonGuest
John BailerHost
Rosemary PenningtonHost[gentle music] Last academic year, colleges and universities across the US struggled with whether to mandate COVID vaccinations for their students.
While colleges often require vaccines, the political controversy surrounding the COVID shots made adopting a vax policy a complicated undertaking.
But according to one study, it had a profound impact on the national COVID death toll last fall.
That's the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories where we explore the statistics behind the stories and the stories behind the statistics.
Stats and Stories is a production of Miami University's departments of statistics and media, journalism, and film, as well as the American Statistical Association.
Joining me is regular panelist John Bailer, emeritus professor of statistics at Miami University.
Acton is an assistant professor of economics at Miami University, as well as a research affiliate at the Institute of Labor Economics and the College Crisis Initiative.
Acton is an applied microeconomist who specializes in labor and the economics of education.
She's also a co-author of a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper examining the impacts of university COVID vaccine mandates.
The study found the mandates lowered COVID deaths in the US by an estimated 5% last fall.
Read the full transcript.
Create an account to read the whole episode, search across every transcript, and follow the shows you care about.
[gentle music] Last academic year, colleges and universities across the US struggled with whether to mandate COVID vaccinations for their students.
While colleges often require vaccines, the political controversy surrounding the COVID shots made adopting a vax policy a complicated undertaking.
But according to one study, it had a profound impact on the national COVID death toll last fall.
That's the focus of this episode of Stats and Stories where we explore the statistics behind the stories and the stories behind the statistics.
Stats and Stories is a production of Miami University's departments of statistics and media, journalism, and film, as well as the American Statistical Association.
Joining me is regular panelist John Bailer, emeritus professor of statistics at Miami University.
Acton is an assistant professor of economics at Miami University, as well as a research affiliate at the Institute of Labor Economics and the College Crisis Initiative.
Acton is an applied microeconomist who specializes in labor and the economics of education.
She's also a co-author of a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper examining the impacts of university COVID vaccine mandates.
The study found the mandates lowered COVID deaths in the US by an estimated 5% last fall.
