<p>Do any of the guide books or web sites have good summary data on overall student body liberal-ness or conservative-ness?
I am finding a ton of data on SAT scores, retention rates, tuition costs, etc. But struggling to get good data on how liberal vs. how conservative the general environment is.
My daughter would like to attend a smallish (1,000-3,000) liberal arts college but would prefer an environment that is moderate (although a bit right of center or even a bit left of center would also be fine). She is hoping to avoid a left of left (or right of right) environment. Our family (including our daughter) has right of center values/views on most economic/social/political/spiritual issues. And our daughter can stand up for herself in a discussion, but if she is surrounded by peers and (especially) professors that are so far left of her and there is a constant barrage/pressure it can wear her (or anybody) down. My wife and I acknowledge that college is a place for kids to let their hair down, experience the diversity of life, and generally grow and we do not want to over-protect, but we do want to try and ensure that our daughter ends up in an environment where she can <em>make some friends</em> as well as learn, debate, have some fun, grow, etc. (We also acknowledge that the word "liberal" is actually in the title of Liberal Arts College and expect that many top LACs are liberal--its just a matter of how far left).</p>
<p>ALL top LACs are liberal as are top Us. Unless you venture to Christian or religious colleges in general, it’s all liberal. Of course you’ll find conservatives on every campus, but as the Obama campaign demonstrated, at that age, liberals rule.</p>
<p>Some of the southern LACs are moderate. Washington & Lee, Sewanee, and Furman are the first to come to mind, but Rhodes and Davidson might fit the bill as well. If she’s willing to go a little larger, Wake Forest would be worth a look.</p>
<p>You might want to check out [Choosing</a> the Right College](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Choosing-Right-College-Americas-Schools/dp/0802845371][i]Choosing”>http://www.amazon.com/Choosing-Right-College-Americas-Schools/dp/0802845371). As the title implies, it looks at colleges through a conservative slant.</p>
<p>If you were to step back in time 30 years ago to the days you went to college you would probably remember that your parents did not concern themselves with the notion that they could protect you from liberal or conservative political views arising from debate inside or outside the classroom. Nor did they fear that you would not be up to the responsibility you took on when you enrolled to develop your own views and express them as you learned about the world outside your hometown. In fact I bet that that’s what they expected you to do.</p>
<p>So what’s changed? It appears that parents are so involved with their children’s lives even when they reach college age that they are prepared to direct, shelter, guide their choices of college in terms of such exciting challenges. I can only believe that it hinders their 18 year old’s personal development. </p>
<p>Eighteen year old Americans need to experience as much as they can from a diverse group of people while in the unique environment of college. Top 20 liberal arts colleges afford that atmosphere with extracurricular programs to complement the classroom experience. It’s something that high schools and parents simply cannot duplicate nor should parents try to direct. </p>
<p>Wouldn’t it be great for your daughter to return home for a visit in mid-freshman year with a questioning approach and curiosity to learn based on lively discourse developed outside your family’s and community’s bubble? She would thereby contribute ideas and contrasts and back them up with reference sources. How refreshing would that be? Most importantly she would be growing as an individual. That’s one of the formative missions of these colleges.</p>
<p>My personal advice is to just let her go. What’s the point in trying to manage her life in college? The top 20 liberal arts colleges are laboratories for thoughtful and respectful dialogue. She will be well served in life for the experience they offer.</p>
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<p>Of course, this use of the word “liberal” is only very tenuously connected to the modern sense of the word in American politics. It comes from an ancient notion that distinguished the technical arts of production (wood and metal working, etc.), or the fine arts (such as painting and sculpture), from the arts required by a free person to live a good life. These “liberal arts” originally included grammar, rhetoric, logic, geometry, arithmetic, music and astronomy; they later evolved into the modern liberal arts and sciences. In the ancient meaning, and even into recent times, the liberal arts concept reflected a rather aristocratic sensibility. They cover the knowledge and skills cultivated by the wealthy elite, people who have no need to work with their hands, but who manage the government and economy (enlightened by the perspective of the best education available).</p>
<p>What I would do is look up the office of institutional research at any college you’re interested in and contact them asking if they have that kind of data. There are political shiboleth-type questions on the CIRP Freshman Survey that many many colleges administer, so if they’ll share those results with you it might help. We ask similar questions on the senior exit survey at Rhodes, so I can tell you that our students are about 50-50 on either side of the aisle, with the majority clustered toward the center (that is, few extremes on the left or right).</p>
<p>St. Olafs is a good school, reputed to be a little more ‘center’ than say, neighborhing Carleton. Davidson and Wake Forest are both a bit more centerist-still liberal, but not as much as, say, other top 20 LACs. </p>
<p>And I see nothing wrong with not wanting your S or D to spend 4 years on the defensive about their social or political values. We choose a very liberal school for our S because we wanted his first experience away from home to be comfortable, rather than a minority experience. And he does get exposure to other perspectives there (because good faculty don’t accept poorly thought out, knee jerk views from the right or left and neither do smart students).</p>
<p>Wake Forest University is 4,000 undergrads and as a registered Democrat, I think it is very moderate which is nice. I do not want professors shoving their political views down my throat like at some other NC schools <em>cough</em>CHAPEL HILL<em>cough</em></p>
<p>College of the Holy Cross would be good. Hillsdale College has a reputation for being far to the right compared to other liberal arts colleges…which means it’s a little to the right in the real world.</p>