Muslim students face bias from peers, faculty, and institutional policies alike, compounding barriers to their academic success and sense of belonging.
Muslim students face discrimination at significantly higher rates than other religious groups in higher education settings. They experience bias from peers, faculty, and institutional policies, creating compounding barriers to their academic success and sense of belonging.
The American Muslim Poll 2025 shows that Muslims are significantly more likely than other religious groups to face discrimination within higher education settings. According to the data, 25% of Muslims who reported religious discrimination experienced it while interacting with peers at their university, a rate that is more than twice as high as Jews (13%) and over four times higher than Protestants (6%).
Additionally, among Muslims facing bias, nearly a quarter (24%) reported experiencing discrimination from people in positions of authority at their institutions, including faculty, administrators, and staff. As national trends shift toward limiting campus free speech, cutting federal higher education spending, and increasing immigration crackdowns on international students, Muslim students are likely to face disproportionate impacts.
Moreover, being a student specifically increases Muslims’ vulnerability to discrimination. A 2024 ISPU study analyzing the intersection of religious identity and views on ceasefire in Gaza found that Muslim students (78%) are significantly more likely than Muslim non-students (56%) to report experiencing religious bias from peers, and 68% of Muslim students face discrimination from authority figures compared to 50% of Muslim non-students. This student-specific pattern reveals that academic environments intensify both interpersonal and structural Islamophobia.
Beyond interpersonal discrimination, institutional actions also contribute to Muslim students’ exclusion. CAIR California’s second campus climate report examined the lived experiences of Muslim students across 87 public and private California institutions during the 2023–2024 academic year, surveying 720 students on the unique challenges they face due to their Muslim identities on campus. Conducted in the context of the October 7, 2023, attacks and the ongoing conflict in Gaza, the report found that over half of students (53%) that reported harassment and/or discrimination due to theirMuslim identity indicated that their school’s official statements regarding Palestine and Israel made them feel excluded on campus. This institutional dimension of Islamophobia demonstrates that Muslim students face bias not only from individuals but also from the policies and public positions of their universities.
These compounding forms of discrimination—from peers, authority figures, and institutions themselves—create a hostile environment that undermines Muslim students’ sense of belonging and academic success. Understanding the full impact requires looking beyond statistics to the lived experiences of Muslim students navigating campus life.
Of Muslims students in the study who reported harassment and/or discrimination due to their Muslim identity indicated that their school's official statements regarding Palestine and Israel made them feel excluded on campus.
Between 2023 and 2025, several spaces for Muslim students on college campuses have been vandalized. On April 9, 2024, which happened to be Eid al-Fitr, the Islamic center at Rutgers University had its windows, artwork, TV, and printer smashed and its Palestinian flag destroyed. On April 3, 2025, an Islamic prayer room at New York University was vandalized with urine and obscene images drawn on the walls. These incidents are meant to intimidate and make Muslim students feel unwelcome on American college campuses.
According to Muslim Campus Life, the most common institutional struggles involve basic religious needs, including the lack of halal food options, dedicated prayer spaces, and necessary accommodations for the observance of Ramadan and Eid. These barriers are often accompanied by a curriculum that frequently approaches Islam through security studies, emphasizing conflict and extremism while neglecting the community’s intellectual and cultural contributions. Additionally, Islamophobia acts as a threat to freedom of speech as institutional policies or the threat of doxing often lead to high rates of self-censorship. Compared to other religious groups, Muslim students report the highest levels of self-censorship, with 53% self-censoring generally and 69% doing so when interacting with professors. This culture of silencing extends beyond campus, as ISPU’s American Muslim Poll 2025 found that among Muslims who experienced religious discrimination, almost half (49%) reported experiencing it on social media platforms, pointing to a broader pattern of discrimination that follows Muslim students beyond campus. The impact of these structural and interpersonal pressures takes a toll on mental health and physical safety. Muslim students subjected to Islamophobia report higher levels of depression, anxiety, and psychological distress, with nearly one in four reporting they feel anxious always or most of the time.
Source: Muslim Campus Life
A study conducted by the USC Rossier Center for Education, Identity and Social Justice examined the experiences and perceptions of Muslim undergraduate and graduate students across two-year and four-year institutions in four major regions of the United States, drawing on semi-structured interviews with 54 participants. The study revealed a theme among participants of “grouping,” where students report that professors often expect the same behavior from all Muslims regardless of their individual backgrounds. This generalization is reflected in the data, as over 97% of survey participants believe that Muslims are stereotyped in general, and 53% report having felt stereotyped themselves. As a result, the burden of representation is high, as over 86% of participants reported that they had to address, confront, or correct misconceptions about Islam and Muslims on campus.
Source: USC Rossier Center for Education, Identity and Social Justice
Beyond academic interactions, the broader political climate significantly impacts Muslim students’ physical and social safety on campus. In the month following October 7, 2023, CAIR reported an unprecedented 216% increase in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bias complaints, receiving 1,283 requests for help compared to the previous year, a stark illustration of how geopolitical events translate into real-world harm for Muslim communities. The USC study found that this climate of hostility fosters a state of hypervigilance among Muslim students, shaping not only how they are treated but how openly they feel they can practice their faith. As Hafsah, a second-year undergraduate student, reflected: “I would definitely say that the political climate has affected how people treat us and how we have to be hyperaware of our safety, and I would say to a certain extent it dictates how public we are with our faith.”
I would definitely say that the political climate has affected how people treat us and how we have to be hyperaware of our safety, and I would say to a certain extent it dictates how public we are with our faith.
Conversely, the study also highlights strong support when students proactively engage with university policies. Because public institutions receive federal funding, they must follow Title IX and non-discrimination clauses, and as a result, students have found success in securing religious accommodations for holidays or fasting during Ramadan. As Noor, an undergraduate student, noted:
"So the university has to abide by Title IX clauses obviously, and because it is a public institution, it has non-discrimination clauses… you can ask for religious holidays or let your professors know that you're going to be off or that you, for example, might be fasting, saying you need religious accommodation, or anything related to your worship. They've been good — if you push them enough, they've been good about it."
The following are recommendations for university and college administration, faculty, and all staff to dismantle Islamophobia and create inclusive campus environments for Muslim students. The recommendations below are adapted from Muslim Campus Life’s Confronting Islamophobia on Campus Toolkit, CAIR’s Protest Policy Guidance for Federally Funded Higher Ed. Institutions, University Administrator’s Guide to an Unhostile Campus, 2024 Campus Climate Report: Examining Islamophobia on California College Campuses, and input from toolkit advisors.
Use a climate survey or focus group, to identify the specific needs of Muslim students within the campus context. Include an inventory of resources available to Muslim students. These resources may include staff members like Muslim chaplains or mental health professionals.
Condemn Islamophobia and practice a zero-tolerance policy against anti-Muslim bias incidents by peers, faculty, staff, or outside groups.
Treat these with the same level of seriousness as complaints from students in other protected groups.
Create specific committees charged with providing support and resources for students who are victimized, including those targeted by doxing or online attacks, and publicly condemn such incidents.
Such policies could include, but are not limited to, anti-doxing policies, free expression policies, and housing and dining policies. Include Islamophobia among prohibited types of bias listed in your policies.
Provide clear and regular updates on the complaint status, and offer a transparent appeals policy.
Foster an environment where students do not feel apprehensive about requesting accommodations, whether for religious holidays, daily prayers, or dietary needs. During Ramadan, accommodate students with flexibility in their exam schedules as well as in their other academic commitments.
Affirm the campus’ commitment to academic freedom and free speech. Do not fall into a “Palestine exception” to free speech where pro-Palestine speech is policed more than other types. Utilize dialogue over violence when addressing nonviolent student protestors.
Also ensure they highlight Muslims’ numerous contributions across fields and sectors. Develop and invest in academic centers or departments that can host experts, conduct interdisciplinary research, and engage all students.
Engage Muslim subject-matter experts for these trainings and consider involving students in vetting potential trainers. Clearly communicate to faculty and staff that Islamophobia will not be tolerated.
After reading this section, university administrators, faculty, and staff should consider the following questions about their practices and school environment:
Islamophobia is a form of discrimination, bias, and racism against Muslims and consequently those who appear to be Muslim that relies on stereotypes of Muslims and Islam that can result in their unequal treatment. Islamophobia is structural and can be seen in American social structures, laws and policies, media narratives, and ideologies. It also exists in interpersonal interactions between individuals that result in the unjust treatment of Muslims and those misidentified as Muslims in society.
