We are in California and our D wants to attend college in the Pacific NW or Colorado. She is looking at public universities between 5,000-15,000, a few smaller LAC or Jesuit schools such as Lewis & Clark, Gonzaga, Western Washington U, University of Northern Colorado, Univ of Colorado-Colorado Springs, University of Denver, and Regis Univ.
While we are not a Catholic or Christian family, the service and global community aspects of the Jesuit colleges are appealing. My D has grown up in the Bay Area and has progressive values and liberal politics (if one were to slap labels on such things). My D really enjoyed her recent Colorado visit to UC-Colorado Springs and Regis U.
Back in California we were surprised to be told that Regis is a conservative school (“right wing” was the phrase). My daughter’s GC was surprised Regis was even on the list. Not much better reaction to Colorado Springs.
Both schools are affordable and interested in D. She in turn connected with each school and the admissions counselors. (Choices such as Univ if Denver or Colorado College are probably out of reach financially, we would end up full pay.)
We looked up conservative colleges in Colorado on niche.com and to our surprise both Regis and UC-CS were in the top 10.
Can anyone offer insight into the culture or student diversity at Regis U? UC-CS? Did we totally miss something essential here? We are finalizing our list and truly surprised,
While I don’t know about UC-CS, the city of Colorado Springs is famous as a conservative “counterpart” of Boulder, based in part on the USAF Academy and other military installations in the area.
I think you’ll find both liberals and conservatives at both colleges and your DD will make friends with those who have similar views. Same for Colorado Springs, both elements manage to exist without a ton of conflict.
Regis (like other Jesuit colleges) is hardly BYU or Liberty University. Probably is only about 50% Catholic enrollment. It might be a little more conservative than some other colleges, but it still is a college. It will be more liberal than not. Which is how the Jesuit schools tend to be. The Jesuit schools offer great educations at great prices for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Do people in the Bay area think Santa Clara and USF are reactionary schools too?
Colo Springs is a conservative town with a size-able military presence. But UCCS is still a college. It isn’t going to be very conservative.
I can’t lend any information as to the colleges but for conservatives in the Northeast like our family, finding a school and in particular a LAC that isn’t liberal (values, politics and otherwise) is nearly impossible. My D is at a pretty liberal LAC and other than the week the POTUS was elected it hasn’t been noticed at all. Maybe that’s the same vice versa.
“Regarding Regis, aren’t most religious schools conservative?”
BYU and Liberty Baptist, sure.
Not really if you are talking Catholic colleges. And especially the Jesuit (big time social justice warriors) colleges. You think Georgetown is particularly conservative? Probably only 50% Catholic enrollment. BYU is 98.5% Mormon enrollment.
CU Boulder (50% out of state enrollment) would be the more typical destination for a kid coming from California. But CU and CSU are on the big side for the OP’s parameters.
Catholic colleges run the gamut from those that are very conservative and adhere the most closely to Catholic doctrine - see the Newman List: https://cardinalnewmansociety.org/recommended-colleges/ - to those that are considered at most only loosely tied to the church, such as Georgetown.
I can’t speak personally for Regis, but I will say that in general Jesuit schools are very open and inviting to both Catholics and non-Catholics. They encourage open discourse of all ideas and are honestly curious to hear and consider all viewpoints. The Jesuit school my D attended had several openly gay faculty - both single and married. This would not be allowed in the more conservative schools. She did have some very conservative professors, mostly in theology, but there’s also a gay theology professor. Fr. Martin was her graduation speaker - he was just uninvited to speak to the theology school at The Catholic University of America because of his recent book on building a bridge to the LGBT community.
Many schools now emphasize teaching the “whole student” - mind, soul, and body. The Jesuits have been doing that for a very long time under the principle of cura personalis. I can’t speak highly enough of the Jesuit concepts of education.
Inigo – the Newman approved college list schools are clearly the really conservative Catholic colleges. With the exception of Catholic University in DC, no one has ever heard of any of them.
No Jesuit school (Georgetown, BC, Holy Cross, Fordham, Santa Clara, LMU, USF, Regis, etc.) is on the approved list. Villanova isn’t on the list. Even Notre Dame (80+% Catholic enrollment, single sex dorms, etc.) gets dinged for being a back-sliding secularizer.
Like you, I’m a huge fan of the Jesuit colleges. Also like Jim Martin’s books a lot.
@northwesty Right, none of the Jesuit schools are on the Newman list. I posted that mostly to show the huge disparity that can be found across Catholic colleges, from a school such as the Franciscan University of Steubenville to Georgetown. I wouldn’t say **no one[/] has ever heard of any of these schools - many schools are only known regionally. I’d certainly never heard of Steubenville until several kids at our church went there. I’d also never heard of Regis until I met a co-worker who had graduated from there. I didn’t know the majority of Jesuit schools until D started researching schools and we found the Jesuit site.
Even within some denominations, such as Franciscan, you can find a wide range of adherence to doctrine at their universities. Some Catholic colleges, such as Providence (Dominican), appear to be on the way to being more conservative (instituting single sex dorms) and maybe want to make the Newman list someday. St. Michaels (Edmundite) is another Catholic college known for being on the liberal side. It may be people the OP spoke with were generalizing based on Regis being a religious school - but you can’t make that type of generalization across Catholic institutions.
The Jesuit schools have no hopes of ever making the Newman list. That was one of the things my D looked for in a Catholic college :))
Colorado Springs as a CITY is conservative – Colorado COLLEGE is intellectual/liberal. I’ve known quite a few liberal Denver kids from liberal families who loved and thrived at Colorado College. Most of them ignore the politics of Colorado Springs and head to Denver or Boulder to hang out with their peers, or hang out in some of the great natural outdoorsy areas close to Colorado Springs.
Honestly Regis doesn’t have much of a reputation in Colorado… not that it’s bad – it’s just not in any way outstandingly good. It’s not as academically demanding as Colorado College, nor is it like University of Denver, a not super-selective private which has a few outstanding departments (not to mention its extensive connections to the corporate/business community.) I wouldn’t consider Regis as a good fit for someone who has the academic chops for Colorado College.
UC Colorado Springs is a rapidly growing campus. But it is definitely a few notches down from the Boulder and Denver campuses. All of the University of Colorado have funding issues (the state is something like 49th out of 50 in per student spending on the college level) and, frankly, I would question whether a student could graduate from UC CS in four years. Something to keep in mind as you evaluate your costs.
I agree with @katliamom about Regis not having much of a rep locally. None of the kids in my children’s high school class went there. The only people I know who attend are non-traditional students/adults.
In California, the coastal counties are generally pretty liberal, but Orange County traditionally stood out as a conservative exception. The Colorado Springs area is similarly conservative relative to other parts of the Front Range. UCCS probably draws most of their students from that local area.
UCCS leans conservative, but that is probably changing as it grows and attracts people from outside El Paso County. CU Boulder and CSU Fort Collins are great schools in beautiful locations. They are both huge (30K+ students). Both have amazing facilities (CSU has an indoor aquatic center with a lazy river) and are close to outdoor recreational opportunities. I have a daughter at the University of Northern Colorado. She was accepted to Boulder and CSU, but preferred the more intimate feel of UNC. She feels UNC is a perfect size – small enough to get individual attention and negotiate the pitfalls of college, but big enough to have great facilities and opportunities. UNC is one of the most liberal schools in CO and has a safe, friendly feel. The food is excellent, and the dorms are considered the best in CO. It’s a comfortable place to live. My kid enjoys the small classes (biggest was 60 in a general biology class, most are around 20) and supportive professors. It has excellent programs in music, nursing, teacher training, and business. If your daughter is a serious student, she might want to join the honors program, where the classes are as challenging as you’d get at a good private college. While the UNC campus is very pretty, it’s farther from skiing than CU or CSU, and Greeley is a smaller town than Boulder, Denver, or Fort Collins. It’s a big advantage to have a car. UNC is more affordable than other schools she could have chosen, so we bought our daughter a second-hand car with the money we saved through her not going to a more expensive school. That allows her to get into Denver or Fort Collins or up into the mountains on the weekends. The University of Denver and Colorado College are the two best private schools in the state. Both are very good. Colorado College uses the block system (one course at a time.) Some kids love it; some hate it. The University of Denver has a beautiful campus and proximity to all Denver has to offer. Good luck to your daughter as she negotiates her choices.