Which Colleges/Uni's are the Most Conservative/Liberal ?

College Search & Selection
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<p>The #1 most liberal school - Warren Wilson College.</p>

<p>This school is liberal both fiscally and socially. The dorms are coed on the floor and the bathroom are coed. Individual rooms are single sex but suites are coed.</p>

<p>The whole school is practically a commune - students are required to work and their work hours are applied to their tuition. There are hardly any support employees. The students do the cleaning, cooking and fixing at the school. If a toilet gets stopped up and you call for help another student on the plumbing crew may show up.</p>

<p>Many students are gay/bi and it pretty much goes unnoticed. Many are vegetarians or vegans and food serivce makes those food choices widely available.
The school is very green - if you are not a dyed-in-the-wool environmentalist you will feel left out.
I think all of the criteria posted by the OP for a liberal school applies here.</p>

22

<p>Re message 18. I didn't realize Rotarians were considered extremely conservative. Here in the SF bay area the local Rotarians won award for producing a documentary on AIDs. They do a ton of community service, including immunizing children in Africa, and work in cleaning up the environment.</p>

23

<p>RE: Rotarians do a ton of community service....</p>

<p>Conservatives do a ton of community service as well ( as do Liberals ). In fact that is the main emphasis of conservatism --- GOOD WORKS ARE MAINLY DONE BY INDIVIDUALS and preferably leaving government out of it. I'm not sure what the point of your post is.</p>

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<p>These Rotarians choose to do their community service in fields that are a) green and b) accepting of all lifestyles. Earlier posts were using both those criteria to denote liberals. That was my point.</p>

25

<p>The elephant in the room is most good colleges are liberal or left of center. Everyone agrees that most faculty and journalists are liberal or left of center. These are two careers that specialize in knowledge and information. Ergo, the conclusion is the more information and knowledge you have means a higher probability of being liberal and tolerant. Also, the inverse would be true which is that the more ignorant you are, the higher chance of you being conservative.</p>

<p>Agree or disagree?</p>

26

<p>I agree that knowledge can lead to wisdom and tolerance, but not necessarily to liberalism. I have known many highly educated and wise people who are conservative. But those people were always tolerant, respectful and accepting of other points of views.</p>

<p>This said, I also agree that in general, knowledge and wisdom lead to liberalism.</p>

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<hr>

<p>Also, the inverse would be true which is that the more ignorant you are, the higher chance of you being conservative.</p>

<h2>Agree or disagree?</h2>

<p>It depends on what "knowledge" you are gaining in college.</p>

<p>Would Civics knowledge be considered important or unimportant ?</p>

<p>Would knowledge of the founding principles of this country be important or unimportant ?</p>

<p>I note with irony that the more liberal the colleges, the less the seniors know about American Civics.</p>

<p>Is this considered "growing" in knowledge and wisdom ? In what sense are you becoming "wiser" ?</p>

<p>And what kind of "knowledge" are you really gaining ?</p>

<p>America’s Founders were convinced American freedom could survive only if each generation understood its founding principles and the sacrifices made to maintain it.</p>

<p>Failing Our Students, Failing America: Holding Colleges Accountable for Teaching America’s History and Institutions asks: Is American higher education doing its duty to prepare the next generation to maintain our legacy of liberty?</p>

<p>In fall 2005, researchers at the University of Connecticut’s Department of Public Policy (UConnDPP), commissioned by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s (ISI) National Civic Literacy Board, conducted a survey of some 14,000 freshmen and seniors at 50 colleges and universities. Students were asked 60 multiple-choice questions to measure their knowledge in four subject areas: </p>

<p>1) America’s history, </p>

<p>2) Government, </p>

<p>3) International relations, and </p>

<p>4) Market economy. </p>

<p>The disappointing results were published by ISI in fall 2006 in The Coming Crisis in Citizenship: Higher Education’s Failure to Teach America’s History and Institutions. Seniors, on average, failed all four subjects, and their overall average score was 53.2%.</p>

<p>This report follows up on The Coming Crisis in Citizenship. It is based on an analysis of the results of a second survey of some 14,000 freshmen and seniors at 50 colleges conducted by the research team at UConn in the fall of 2006. The results of this second survey corroborate and extend the results of the first. Seniors once again failed all four subjects.</p>

<p>Here are some of the findings :</p>

<p>America’s Most Prestigious Universities Performed the Worst.</p>

<p>Colleges that do well in popular rankings typically do not do well in advancing civic knowledge.</p>

<pre><code>* Generally, the higher U.S. News & World Report ranks a college, the lower it ranks here in civic learning. At four colleges U.S. News ranked in its top 12 (Cornell, Yale, Duke, and Princeton), seniors scored lower than freshmen. These colleges are elite centers of “negative learning.” Cornell was the third-worst performer last year and the worst this year.

  • Surveyed colleges ranked by Barron’s imparted only about one-third the civic learning of colleges overlooked by Barron’s. </code></pre>

<p>QUESTIONS OF ACCOUNTABILITY
1: Are Parents and Students Getting Their Money’s Worth from College Costs?</p>

<p>The least-expensive colleges increase civic knowledge more than the most expensive.</p>

<p>2: Are Taxpayers and Legislators Getting Their Money’s Worth from College Subsidies?</p>

<p>Colleges enjoying larger subsidies in the form of government-funded grants to students tend to increase civic knowledge less than colleges enjoying smaller such subsidies.</p>

<p>3: Are Alumni and Philanthropists Getting Their Money’s Worth from the Donations they make to Colleges?</p>

<p>Some of the worst-performing colleges also have the largest, most rapidly growing endowments. These include Yale, Penn, Duke, Princeton, and Cornell.</p>

<p>4: Are College Trustees Getting Their Money’s Worth from College Presidents?</p>

<p>Six of the 10 worst-performing colleges also ranked among the top 10 for the salaries they paid their presidents. These include Penn, Cornell, Yale, Princeton, Rutgers and Duke, which paid their presidents $500,000 or more.</p>

<p>5: Are Colleges Encouraging Students to Take Enough Courses about America’s History and Institutions and Then Assessing the Quality of These Courses?</p>

<p>The average senior had completed only four courses in history, political science, and economics. But more courses taken did not always mean more knowledge gained. At eight colleges, each additional civics course a student completed, on average, decreased his civic knowledge.</p>

<p>SEE HERE FOR THE LATEST RANKINGS :</p>

<p>Civic</a> Literacy Report - Rankings</p>

<p>So, I have to respectfully disagree with the premise that increasing knowledge and wisdom necessarily leads to liberalism. There is NOT a straight correlation between conservatism/liberalism and knowledge/wisdom. </p>

<p>Unless there is a peer reviewed scientific study that makes such correlation, I would say that any conclusions are simply based on speculation and should be taken with extreme caution.</p>

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<p>RE:</p>

<hr>

<h2>Unless there is a peer reviewed scientific study that makes such correlation, I would say that any conclusions are simply based on speculation and should be taken with extreme caution.</h2>

<p>Well, here's what one of the columnists at the Wall Street Journal has to say ... his name is Prof. Arthur Brooks, a professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Public Affairs. See here :</p>

<p>The</a> Wall Street Journal Online - Extra</p>

<hr>

<p>"The most recent evidence on this subject comes from the mid-1990s, in the University of Michigan's National Election Studies. These survey data uncover two facts. First, people who go to college are more likely to vote Republican than those who don't go to college. Adults 25 and under from Republican homes are, for example, 11 percentage points more likely to vote Republican if they attended college than if they didn't. And young adults from Democratic households are 11 percentage points less likely to vote Democrat if they've gone to college than if not.</p>

<p>Second, nearly everybody grows more likely to vote Republican as they age--but especially college graduates. It is no shock that the vast majority of people of all educational backgrounds from Republican homes vote Republican by age 40. It may come as more of a surprise that 40-year-olds with Democrat parents are far less likely to vote Democrat if they've gone to college than if they haven't. In fact, while three-quarters of the uneducated group still vote Democrat, the odds are only about 50-50 that the college graduates vote this way. And they've not all become skeptical political independents: Fully a third are registered Republicans.</p>

<h2>Obviously, some kids turn left in college--but this appears to be the exception, not the rule. Does all this mean that our colleges and universities are actually breeding grounds for conservatism? Hardly. What the statistics really show is that higher education by itself doesn't affect political views very much. Rather, in addition to the strong influence of parents, it is higher incomes--which typically reward a college education in America--that push people to the right politically. In Republican families, the income effect reinforces parents' influence on their kids. In Democratic families, the two effects work against each other."</h2>

<p>CAVEAT : That was a study from the mid-1990's. I'm not sure if it applies today. So take it with caution as well.</p>

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<p>I changed my affiliation to Republican some time in the 90s. Back then Republicans were for fiscal responsibility and personal freedoms. That has changed dramatically in the last 10 to 15 years. I'm not sure that study would hold in today's climate.</p>

30

<p>conservative:</p>

<p>washington and lee</p>

<p>liberal:</p>

<p>bard</p>

31

<p>Which colleges are the most libertarian?</p>

<p>Where are the students that accept gays, interracial dating, abortions, and drugs, but want lower taxes, less gun control, and don't think the USA is evil?</p>

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<p>RE:</p>

<hr>

<h2>Which colleges are the most libertarian?</h2>

<p>I haven't really found a college that is culturally libertarian ( although conservatism is a close ECONOMIC cousin to it ).</p>

<p>In general , I find conservative colleges to be --- accepting of interracial dating, but frowning on homosexuality, abortion and drugs. Of course conservative colleges teach the virtue of lower taxes, minimal government, less gun control and do not blame America first.</p>

<p>(BTW, here's one gauge as to which colleges are liberal --- DO THEY WELCOME ROTC ON CAMPUS ? If the answer is NO, the culture is liberal ).</p>

<p>That said, there are LOTS of campuses where LIBERTARIANS are welcome.</p>

<p>Here is a list of campuses with significant libertarian presence :</p>

<p>Liberty</a> Guide - Campus Organizations</p>

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<p>RE: Libertarian Colleges</p>

<p>My daughter recently got accepted by Grove City College. I decided to find out a lot about the college and discovered that a lot of their professors are connected to the Libertarian Think Tank -- THE LUDWIG VON MISES INSTITUTE. Their long time head of the economics department, the late Hans Sennholz, was a foremost advocate of the Austrian School of Economics. They have lots of graduates who teach free market economics in various universities ( for instance, Dr. Peter Boetke and Dr. Walter Williams ( yes, the syndicated columnist and some time sub for Rush Limbaugh in his radio program used to teach there ) ).</p>

<p>According to Wikipedia, Because of its strong adherence to freedom and minimal government interference, Grove City College is considered to be one of America's foremost colleges that teach the ideas of the Austrian School of Economics.The post-1938 personal papers written by Ludwig Von Mises, the uncontested dean of the Austrian School of Economics, are collected in the archive of Grove City College.</p>

<p>So yes, the school's students and a lot of their professors are sympathetic to libertarian economics, however, when it comes to SOCIAL policy, they are still Christian ( i.e., they frown on drugs, homosexuality, pre-marital sex, abortion and the like ).</p>

<p>I guess you can't have everything you want.</p>

34

<p>
[quote]
In fall 2005, researchers at the University of Connecticut’s Department of Public Policy (UConnDPP), commissioned by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s (ISI) National Civic Literacy Board, conducted a survey of some 14,000 freshmen and seniors at 50 colleges and universities.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Look, I took this "test", and let me tell you: it's the most shoddy research I have ever seen.</p>

<p>While walking into the dining halls, I was passed along this test. I asked the volunteer what it was. I was told that UConn wanted to test civic literacy, and that "Relax, it's not really a big deal. Don't really worry about it - just fill out whatever. It doesn't matter." Most people who received the test didn't quite know what to make of it (i.e. whether it was serious or not) and just tossed it out. One of my friends returned it blank out of protest for just how badly they were doing this research.</p>

<p>In any event, I hadn't really heard much of this study until now, and I'd figured it vanished into oblivion (as it should have). Given that the folks at UConn could not have received more than a 20% response rate from Princeton and given that their results are most likely a mish mash of every flavor of statistical error and bias, I have very serious doubts about the scholarly merits of this.</p>

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<p>You may critique the study all you like as shoddy and all that, but the study has been done TWICE ( 2006 and 2007) and the methodology is presented for any researcher or statistician or educator to see.</p>

<p>This include questionaire design, questionaire pilot, and verification methods.
The names of the implementors are shown on the website as well.</p>

<p>The Intercollegiate Studies Institute commissioned Prof. Ken Dautrich and Mr. Chris Barnes of the University of Connecticut’s Department of Public Policy (UConnDPP) to conduct this field study of undergraduate civic literacy. A representative sample of 25 schools was randomly selected from all four-year colleges and universities, and an over-sample of 25 elite schools was also chosen. Barnes oversaw the sampling and data collection. Heather Mitchell assisted in analyzing the findings and drafting the report. ISI’s Senior Research Fellow, Dr. Gary Scott, independently corroborated the statistical analyses in addition to testing hypotheses using regression analysis.</p>

<p>Dautrich and Barnes are internationally recognized for their public opinion research with projects ranging from international studies to local community surveys.</p>

<p>See here :</p>

<p>Civic</a> Literacy Report - Survey Methods</p>

<p>The study is continually being refined as well based on critical input.</p>

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<p>"Which colleges are the most libertarian?"</p>

<p>Amherst College
Claremont McKenna College
College of William & Mary
Dartmouth College
Emory University
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Northwestern University
Rice University
Stanford University
Tufts University
University of Chicago
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
University of Pennsylvania
University of Texas-Austin
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Williams College
Yale University</p>

37

<p>


</p>

<p>Thanks for the link. If you click on it, though, you'll note that neither the set of questions nor, more importantly, something as basic to survey results as the response rate has been posted.</p>

<p>Now, I'm wondering the last time I've seen a serious survey where the response rate hasn't been included in the results. This is a pretty important number. If 95% of of participants in a survey group responded, you can say "okay, this survey begins to reflect the target demographic". On the other hand, if, say, only 10% of randomly picked students bother responding, then chances are that the survey is going to tell you diddly squat about the group you're studying. So when researchers want to be taken seriously, they include their response rate. Bizarrely enough, the researchers involved in this survey don't include this number. Can I ask why?</p>

<p>I've told you that as a respondent to this survey, I saw that maybe 20% of my peers responded to this casually administered survey, which makes it close to worthless as a work of true research value. The fact that ISI/UConn chose not to disclose this number leads me to wonder if this was the case everywhere. If so, I'd suggest you not rely so much on this survey as evidence in your arguments.</p>

<p>


</p>

<p>So the ISI commissioned this study, and then the ISI "independently corroborated" the results?</p>

<p>Look, this would be fine and well if the ISI were a universally respected research group or something, but you and I both know that this is far from the case. The ISI is a distinctly conservative group with distinctly conservative agenda. I know this well enough because I've been on their e-mail list for the last year or two (don't ask...). Here's a little excerpt from their last e-mail, sent four days ago:</p>

<p><a href="http://tinyurl.com/25xpg3%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://tinyurl.com/25xpg3&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Really now: what non partisan group holds an event titled "Was Ronald Reagan a Great President?" and gives out free conservative women's calendars (whatever that is)?</p>

<p>Mind you, I'm far from a bleeding heart liberal (I wouldn't be on the ISI e-mail list if I were). But I just want to say that it's probably going to be a while before a study done by so conservative an organization as the ISI without any outside check and questionable research practices is going to be the silver bullet argument that "those dirty hippie elite liberal colleges don't teach civics".</p>

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<p>The most civilized (clean,common sense,manners,tradition,conservative) are Hampden-Sydney and W&L.</p>

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<p>RE:</p>

<hr>

<p>So the ISI commissioned this study, and then the ISI "independently corroborated" the results?</p>

<h2>Look, this would be fine and well if the ISI were a universally respected research group or something, but you and I both know that this is far from the case. The ISI is a distinctly conservative group with distinctly conservative agenda</h2>

<p>And who said that the ISI is not a respected group ? Just because you put a label "conservative" to it means -- what ? That their study is bogus ?</p>

<p>I might was well reason that any liberal outfit that produces a study is a shoddy outfit because they're well -- liberal.</p>

<p>As for the 20% who casually responded to the study, well what can I say ? Either --- that has been TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT in their study; or, the fact that they were taken casually simply says a lot about the ATTITUDE of those takign the survey. Why not simply NOT take the survey instead of
taking it casually ?</p>

<p>Good surveyors "know" to adjust the results of their study and factor in the so called casual responses in their survey. This is true of Gallup, Pew and Quinipiac's pollings. I am quite certain that these guys aren't so dumb as to not take the factor into account.</p>

<p>The point is this --- The ISI COMMISSIONED the University of Connecticut (which is NOT known to be conservative, and is a PUBLIC university ) to do the study.</p>

<p>Their methodology is OPEN for those who want to look at it to critique it.</p>

<p>I personally looked at the questionaire they put out and I believe it is a FAIR way of assessing general civic knowledge.</p>

<p>If you want to critique their study and their methodology, go ahead -- show me in what statistical, methodological way their study is bogus, but please, two arguments don't wash :</p>

<p>1) They are "conservative", therefore, their study is shoddy;</p>

<p>2) I don't like the results, therefore it is shoddy.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Which colleges are the most libertarian?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>At MIT, the major political split (in my experience) is between the liberals and the libertarians, with some on the edge or split (e.g. someone who is economically liberal but wants less gun control). The dorm-lounge discussions and arguments are good fun. :)</p>