Published by Forbes
Slightly more than one in four high school seniors (28%) ruled out prospective colleges because of the politics, policies or legal situations in the states where the colleges were located.
That’s one of the main findings from a new survey released by the Art & Science Group, a higher-education consulting firm. The percentage of students saying they ruled out a college based on the political leanings of a state increased slightly from a similar survey conducted by the group last year, which found 24% of students indicating their college choice would be affected by such factors.
The survey, conducted in February–March and May–June 2024, was completed by 4,030 domestic high school seniors, 1,579 of whom said they intended to attend a four-year institution as a full-time student in fall 2024. The respondents were 57% white and 62% female. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5%.
The pattern of ruling out colleges based on the predominant political and social policies of the states where they were located was true for students of all political leanings. Among those identifying as liberal, 35% rejected institutions for such reasons, compared to 29% of those leaning conservative, and 25% of those saying they were political moderates.
The pattern of political preference influencing likely college attendance was not significantly affected by most individual characteristics like respondents’ gender, race, income and region of the country where they lived.
However, a few characteristics did moderate the results. LGBTQ+ students, high and low standardized test scorers (compared to middle scorers), politically engaged students (as determined by affiliation with a political party and indication of voting plans), and students whose first-choice school is an out-of-state public were more likely to exclude schools based on the state were the schools were located.
Colleges in Texas, Florida, California, New York, and Alabama were ruled out of consideration by 15% or more of those students excluding states for socio-political reasons. Texas was the state excluded most often, with 31% of students who excluded it saying they ruled it out because of its social policies/politics.
Of the students who excluded states from their college search, 33% said they nixed their home state, a substantial percentage, given that over three-quarters of first-time degree-seeking college students attend an institution in their home states.
The four states most likely to be rejected by liberal-learning students were Texas, Florida, Arkansas and Tennessee. California and New York were the states most disfavored by conservative students.
Liberal-leaning students tended to point to specific issues causing them to exclude states. The issues that most animated their decisions were states being too conservative on abortion and reproductive rights, too conservative on LGBTQ+ issues, too lenient on guns, too Republican, and having too little concern about racial equality.
Among conservative students, the most common reasons for not considering a college based on its location were that the state was too Democratic, too liberal on LGBTQ+ issues and too lenient on crime.
The three most frequently cited issues cited by moderate students were states that were too lenient on crime, too Republican, and those that suppressed liberal voices.
Compared to the survey last year, both liberal and conservative prospective students were more likely to cite sociopolitical reasons as reasons for excluding states from their college search. This trend was “particularly notable among liberals, who cite more specific issues,” but the survey concluded, “we see this trend among students on both sides of the aisle and suspect it may reflect increasing intensity around contentious topics as the election approaches.”
When surveyed about whether institutions themselves should weigh in on socio-political issues, 62% of those surveyed believe colleges and universities should avoid taking a stance on such topics. However, in something of a contradiction, 49% said schools should “take a stance on political issues important to students.”
They survey also asked about students’ views on “politically charged admissions topics.” Substantial numbers of students, about 4 in 10, support preferential admission treatment for athletes, legacy students, in-state students, and students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. Conservative students were consistently more likely than liberal and moderate students to agree colleges should give admissions preference to students along these dimensions.
The report concludes that while being eliminated from student consideration based on a state’s sociopolitical environment might be “a tough pill to swallow” for many schools, those “with the strongest market positions are usually less vulnerable to external forces that influence prospective students’ college decisions.” It advises that “institutions that deliver a compellingly distinctive experience (academic, co-curricular, social) will have the best chance of overcoming students’ political reservations.”