OP, recently I opened a similar thread http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/2037865-colleges-without-safe-spaces-and-radical-liberal-faculty-p6.html
There was another similar thread, but I couldn’t find it. You can find some good suggestions in those discussions.
OP has very valid concerns. From what I hear, Miami of Ohio seems to be pretty conservative as far as colleges go. TCU, Texas A&M, and SMU are good too. I have a super conservative friend down at Baylor and he loves it. Ole Miss is reasonably conservative. University of Utah is good too. U of Alabama is very conservative. All of these are good schools.
I disagree with the poster who said Santa Clara is conservative. Those who I’ve communicated with regarding the political vibe at Santa Clara say it’s pretty liberal.
Honestly, just avoid schools like Berkeley and things should be okay. Like, I have a million friends at the University of Washington which is SUPER Liberal but I guess the college republicans are still thriving and have good membership numbers. Any big school will have a conservative niche.
Post #41 recommended to avoid schools like Berkeley. I 2nd this advice.
If you’re looking at the state of Arizona, for example, the public universities’ liberal leanings would probably be in this order (from most liberal to least):
NAU - located in Flagstaff
U of A - in Tucson. Tucson is kind of like the Berkeley of Arizona. Well, it would probably be a toss up between Flagstaff and Tucson for that title.
ASU - in Tempe (Phoenix area)
Most conservative (but not a public university) would probably be Grand Canyon University. But GCU is a Christian school and it’s a for-profit university. That one is located in the Phoenix area.
If you are ONLY interested in aerospace engineering, there’s Embry-Riddle University in Prescott. I have no idea what that school’s political vibe is on campus, though. They have more majors other than aerospace engineering, but it’s definitely not a liberal arts school. For for tuition, fees, room, & board is $47,048. It’s a private university.
TCU is definitely conservative, but it’s expensive as heck! Texas A&M is the most conservative, since it’s a big military ROTC school. UT-Austin is more “liberal,” but in Texas, that just means “neutral.” Texas schools are usually good at enforcing discrimination policies, that’s because we’re in a red state and these schools need funding.
@Frodjekhalverson thank you. I am going to apply to TCU and SMU.
If applying in Texas,run the NPC and if affordable add TAMU, Texas Tech, Trinity U.
University of Oklahoma should be pretty hospitable, as would Sewanee, Rhodes, Birmingham Southern.
In the Northeast and non religious, Trinity College in Connecticut, St Lawrence, Dickinson, and Denison would have a lot of different voices and viewpoints, with Trinity College and Denison perhaps closest to the type of conservative environment you’d find at SMU.
I don’t think Denison as having a conservative environment – it is balanced politically, with kids across the spectrum, and there are students vocal about being Republican, which you might not find at some schools. The school is committed to open dialogue and living with difference and diversity, but I would not define the community or culture as conservative.