FROM THE MISSING DATA DEPOT: “Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) has conducted a vast, nationwide survey of college students as part of their efforts to rank the free speech climates of American universities. The 2023 survey included 55,000 enrolled students at 254 colleges around the country. In addition to a battery of demographic (race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) and speech-related questions (discussed further below), FIRE’s survey asked students to describe their political beliefs. To no one’s surprise, the results show that most college students place themselves on the political left, with 58.8% describing their political views as “liberal” or “democratic socialist” and only 24.4% describing their views as “conservative” or “libertarian.” Interestingly, very few (16.7%) of college students label themselves as “moderate.” This distribution of political identification makes college students broadly distinct from the American public and non-college-attending members of Gen Z.”
The list of the Top 20 MOST LIBERAL COLLEGES is dominated by private liberal arts colleges and elite universities, including Smith, Swarthmore, and Brown. The University of Vermont is the only public institution on the list. No surprise there, heh?
But the list of the Top 20 MOST CONSERVATIVE COLLEGES is dominated by public universities, which are often under attack by Conservative lawmakers who contend that public higher education is a liberal ideological training center, espousing “woke” philosophies, etc. Public policy in states like FL, TX, NC, and VA are being enacted accordingly.
While Hillsdale College (MI) and Liberty University (VA) are at the top of the Top Twenty list, the Most Conservative list includes 16 public institutions. Starting with
#3 Auburn (AL), and includes
#4 Arkansas State,
#6 Mississippi,
#7 Oklahoma State,
#10 Toledo,
# 11 Texas Tech,
#12 North Dakota State,
#13 Kansas State,
#14 Mississippi State,
#15 Idaho,
#16 Kentucky,
#17 Wyoming,
#18 Utah State,
#19 Clemson (SC), and
#20 Texas A&M.
Three private schools–#5 Notre Dame, #8 BYU, and #9 Baylor–round out the list of Most Conservative schools—again, no surprise.