Published by Inside Higher Ed
As the presidential election approaches in a politically polarized nation, students are more intensely considering a state’s political leanings or local policies when they decide which college to attend, according to the results of a new studentPOLL by the Art & Science Group.
The share of students who say they ruled out a college due solely to geopolitics has increased only slightly, from 24 percent in 2023 to 28 percent this year. But significantly more students cite particular sociopolitical issues—such as abortion rights, gun control and LGBTQ+ rights—as exerting some or absolute influence on why they nixed a certain institution.
“A whole bunch of reasons for doing so are mentioned by a lot more people. In other words, this is becoming a more intense thing in their minds,” said David Strauss, a principal at Art & Science. “Even if it’s still only one in four who are doing it, it’s an even stronger inclination.”
On average, the share of students who ruled out colleges and universities in certain states based on specific issues rose by 12 percent among those who self-identified as liberal, 15 percent among conservatives and 20 percent among moderates.
“The thing that is indisputably true is that last year’s results weren’t a fluke,” Strauss said. “One out of four may not seem all that big. But to me, it’s huge.” Since three out of four students attend college in their home state, he added, the proportion of those considering politics in their decision is roughly equivalent to the share who go out of state.
Other surveys have shown similar trends. For example, a study conducted by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation this spring found that 76 percent of students say a state’s “divisive concepts” law—like the ones in Florida and Texas that restrict public institutions’ ability to teach content on gender, sexuality and race—would play a role in their decision to attend a college there.
Zach Hrynowski, Gallup’s research consultant on higher education, told Inside Higher Ed that policy issues still take a back seat to more immediate factors, such as cost and academic reputation. But more and more, he said, “they’re not as far behind as you’d think.”
Conducted in spring 2024, the Art & Science survey covered 726 high-school seniors who said they intended to attend a 4-year college or university in the fall.
Broken down by self-described political identity, the students showed no significant difference in their likelihood of excluding a certain state or institution; three-quarters of liberal students said they excluded colleges that were “too Conservative” and two-thirds of conservatives ruled out institutions they considered “too Democratic.”
Race, ethnicity, income and state of residence also played no significant role in determining the impact of politics on students’ college choices. Only a few demographic subgroups—including LGBTQ+ students, politically engaged students (those who indicated strong affiliation with a political party and specific plans to vote), and students whose first-choice was an out-of-state public institution—were more likely to exclude a college based on politics.
What was notable along party lines, however, was what types of issues students cited as influencing their decision. Liberal-leaning students’ cited more specific issues, such as restricted abortion rights, anti-LGBTQ+ laws, lenient gun laws and too little concern about racial equality. Conservative-leaning students, meanwhile, were more likely to name the broader concern of being “too Democratic.” The two specific issues conservative students listed most frequently after that were “too liberal [on] LGBTQ+ laws” and “too lenient on crime.”
“I don’t think it’s a statement on the intelligence or the discerning nature of students of one ideology versus another,” Strauss said.
Instead, he surmised that the reasoning is two-pronged. First, the political views that are most heavily publicized and likely to influence day-to-day life tend to come from the right, therefore raising more specific objections from the left, he said. And second, the positions conservatives espouse tend to have more personal impact on students; traditionally liberal policy positions, such as granting undocumented immigrants refugee status or decriminalizing certain offenses, are based less on individual identity than conservative tenets, such as restricting gender-affirming care or limiting reproductive rights.
“These are all things that are affecting human beings in a direct way,” he said.
Geographically, institutions in Florida, California, New York and Texas were the most likely to be excluded by students, according to the survey. The decisions, unsurprisingly, fell along party lines: conservative-leaning students were more likely to rule out New York and California, while liberal-leaning students were more likely to reject Texas and Florida.
When asked more broadly about whether institutions should weigh in on sociopolitical issues, opinions were mixed, but leaned in favor of neutrality: 62 percent of respondents said higher education should avoid taking a stance on hot button topics. At the same time, 49 percent of students said schools should “take a stance on political issues important to students.”
“In other words,” Strauss noted, students are saying, “‘Don’t talk about things, except if it’s the thing I’m interested in,’ which is kind of cute.”
However, respondents across the political spectrum did agree that university administrators should support student activists and encourage free speech on campus. Strauss sees that as “a thin sliver of hope” in a generally discouraging time for higher education as a marketplace of ideas.
“What worries me in almost all of these data are the propensities for people to go into their own camps and stay there,” he said. “But if you look through several of these kinds of issues, there’s a little bit of common ground.”