Hi, I am applying to schools and want any suggestions on which schools are friendly for conservatives that are politically neutral. I have looked into the “conservative schools” like Liberty and am not a fan of them. I was looking for a place where everyone is welcome, there are no massive protests for speakers, no campus craziness, and no violence.
So far Im applying to TCU and Virginia Tech, I have a 29 ACT and a competitive gpa.
There are liberals and conservatives, and points in between, at every school. Granted, some might lean 90% left, but if that’s the case you just want to make sure that they are not militant: arguing is fine, IMO, as it will sharpen your ability to defend your opinions. But assault is obviously something to avoid. Definitely stay away from schools known for violence, but if the debate is peaceful and not overly oppressive, I think you shouldn’t rule out a school with a liberal reputation.
But if you must have an overall conservative-leaning campus, here are some, as well as some fairly (as far as i know) centrist schools. Keep in mind that to get into some of these, you’d want to improve your ACT and have a high GPA. Most of these tend to have a pre-professional vibe:
Fairly balanced/centrist overall:
Straight-up conservative:
@seniorinmo , I totally understand where you are coming from. We used similar criteria when selecting DS’s college list. We ended up with many of colleges on @prezbucky 's list above.
A few more to consider: Rice University, Trinity University (Texas), Santa Clara University, and Claremont McKenna College.
Most US colleges are institutionally neutral with respect to political party doctrine,
unless you count issue-related policies (e.g. affirmative action, financial divestments) that come and go.
If we’re talking about core beliefs associated with the institutional mission, virtually all the exceptions seem to be conservative, religious, or (usually) both, including many so-called Christian colleges. AFAIK, no college has an enduring institutional commitment to atheism, socialism, communism, or other beliefs/doctrines characterized as leftist.
Very few secular colleges are institutionally committed to conservative/right-wing doctrine, either.
One apparent exception you might like is Hillsdale College.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsdale_College
If we’re only talking about colleges that are “friendly” to conservatives, without any institutional commitment to conservative/religious doctrine, then that is a little harder to pin down. You can look up various lists and CC threads on related subjects, like this one:
https://www.collegeconfidential.com/admit/college-rankings-the-exceptional-the-train-wrecks/
However, most secular colleges are complex institutions that enroll students and employ faculty with more-or-less diverse beliefs. Occasional newsworthy issue-related events (e.g. when students disrupt a conservative speaker) don’t necessarily reflect campus-wide beliefs or typical behavior.
You can choose your major, courses, and friends at any college.
Plan an overnight visit to any college that interests you. Try to discuss your concerns with a few current students.
I second SMU if you like TCU. SMU has the George W. Bush library and a fairly conservative student body. You might like Texas A & M which has the George HW Bush library. It is not too far from Houston. Rhodes College in Memphis might also be a good fit.
I also recommend SMU and Kansas State where you could get really good OOS scholarships with your current states.
Miami of Ohio is worth checking out.
To keep it simple but to get largely-accurate results, an above poster was on the right track—look at schools known for very popular business schools (not highly-ranked necessarily, but popular as a major relative to humanities) and higher concentrations of STEM majors (both engineering and pre-med types). Both those groups lean conservative, at least in their fiscal views, or at the very least will not be involved or care as much for political activism, thereby dialing down the political tone of the campus.
Anecdotally, my S attends Wake Forest (freshmen) and I’ve asked him questions pertaining to the student body. He would tell you that most are like him, fiscally conservative and socially liberal (or left of center to be more accurate). At least in his group of friends, there are full pay students and those on need based aid so a varied economic spectrum. Inner city kids and very wealthy kids. They all get along just fine. There are plenty of groups and clubs on campus that reflect the spectrum as well. Not just Young Republican or Democrat clubs, but ethnic / cultural (Latin club, etc.), LGBTQ , etc.
I figured Wake’s student body was probably fairly centrist overall, and @rickle1 seems to confirm that with the above anecdotal evidence.
@seniorinmo Are you socially conservative?
@prezbucky Excellent list.
If you want less politics in general, consider commuter-based schools like non-flagship state universities primarily catering to local students.
Prominent schools, even those with “conservative” reputations and students heavily into pre-professional majors like agriculture, business, and engineering, like Texas A&M, may still attract extremist speakers and their allies and opponents, both of which increase the risk of violence against each other and bystanders.
Thanks!
Again, OP, if a school fits you well despite being known as a liberal bastion, I suggest applying. You’ll find your people wherever you go and debate is a good thing when done respectfully.
But to help identify less-leftist campuses, shoot for schools where pre-professional majors like STEM fields (especially Engineering and CS) and Business are popular.
CS majors and graduates can be very left-leaning in some social contexts (LGBT).
There are plenty of conservative LGB people too, especially on the libertarian side, and many of them are in engineering or business. At just about any non-religious university, that area leans conservative because students in applied dicsiplines are involved more in the real word than than academic ones. There also tend to be more foreign students, who are generally more conservative.
Hillsdale is a pretty amazing place because they encourage actual dialog, and don’t take federal funding with all of the strings that that implies. Their students tend to go on to excellent jobs and grad schools. It’s more of an old-school ‘liberal’ arts college where students are encouraged to think instead of following rigid orthodoxy.
i second wake forest (imo, a perfect school for high achieving, middle of the road students), notre dame, and vanderbilt, though vanderbilt is more left-leaning than the others. to reiterate what gearmom said, are you socially conservative? socially liberal? if you’re the former, it may be a bit harder to find schools (as most well-known schools, i believe, tend to be socially liberal), but it won’t be impossible.
i’m not sure about uchicago, but i have heard claremont mckenna tends to be more neutral than its peers (pitzer, scripps, harvey mudd, and pomona) since it places emphasis on economics and government & public affairs.
Liberty is actually religious, I think Hillsdale and Grove City are just politically conservative.
Adding Hope College in Michigan.
There will be different answers depending on whether you are looking for a college where a majority of the students self-identify as conservative, or a college where conservative views are “welcome.” The answer is to the former is a more limited set of colleges, some of which have been named by previous posters— but the answer to the latter is “almost every college in America,” particularly when you added the qualifier “nonviolent”! The very purpose of a college is to encourage the exploration of ideas, the development of viewpoints, and the ability to articulate and debate these views.
College students have been peacefully protesting since the sixties and seventies and are doing so still. I went to college 1987-1991, and I recall students lying down in the mailroom at my college to protest the deaths during the Gulf War. But there also was a conservative talk show on the college radio station in which a pro-life (anti-abortion rights) position was advocated, so both conservative and liberal views were articulated. At my husband’s college, his dorm (which also housed the administrative offices) was briefly taken over by students protesting Senator Moynihan’s honorary degree.
Trying out and articulating views, and sometimes being overly dramatic in this process, is part of being a young adult. In some other parts of the world, some young adults throw rocks and molotov cocktails and strap on suicide bombs. In the U.S., students hold up posters and sometimes chant. This is peaceful and safe. It is part of the college experience. If you don’t want to participate, just walk past the protesters and ignore them. If you want to join a vocally conservative group, you will be able to find such a group on most campuses. Just check out the list of student organizations on each college’s website, and you will find them. You can email the student president of a group that matches your views to ask what the experience of having those views at the college is like.
I would say that conservatives articulating an unpopular stance (like the pro-life example above) are well tolerated everywhere, even at the most liberal-leaning colleges. People may disagree with them, and may offer counter-arguments, but they won’t be cruel to the speakers or exclude them socially based on their views. It can become more emotional and personal (though still not violent!) when someone specifically speaks out against fellow students— for example, saying that black students or immigrants don’t belong on campus is likely to draw a strong response from fellow students defending their friends. But conservatism and racism/xenophobia are not synonymous, so do not conflate them in thinking about how fellow students will respond.
Don’t fall for the false narrative. Extremist outside agitators on the right, and some on the left as well, are at times using visits of super-extreme speakers to campuses to provoke conflicts. They are especially successful at public colleges, like the recent incidents at UVA and Berkeley, because public entities are required by law to welcome almost any speaker to use their grounds. Part of the goal of these groups probably is to provoke a protest to feed the myth of a “close-minded educated liberal elite” in order to inflame less-educated voters to accept these extremist groups as political allies. Don’t take this narrative of the rabid-liberal college student as gospel.
In reality, the very purpose of a college is to explore various viewpoints and the factual background support for each view. College students will challenge viewpoints with which they disagree, and encourage people to back up their views with evidence… but the image of a conservative student being shouted down or excluded socially is more the work of fear-mongers than the reality of a college campus. But test this hypothesis yourself. Look up conservative groups on college websites and contact the student presidents. Are they happy or unhappy at their college? Find out! I bet you will be reassured more often than not.
Very good points. Far less likely to have extremist (either side) / violent speaker events at a private school as the administration controls access (as they should). Not about silencing certain views, just the extremist and violent part of that conversation. They are all about diversity and robust discussions, just not bedlam.
College students have been peacefully protesting since pretty much forever
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/04/harvards-long-ago-student-risings/