Published by USA Today
One-third of college applicants rule out schools because of partisan politics in their states, a new industry poll finds.
Red-state politics prompt liberal-leaning students to avoid applying to colleges in Texas and Florida. Conservative-leaning applicants eschew schools in New York and California.
Overall, 34% of applicants rule out colleges over state politics, according to the survey, conducted in August and September by Art & Science Group, a consulting and research firm that serves academia. The survey reached 1,547 students.
“A meaningful and growing minority of four-year college-bound students are telling us they are ruling out schools they had been considering, solely because of political considerations” in their states, said David Strauss, a principal at Art & Science Group. “That is as blunt a thing as you can hear.”
The idea that a conservative student might not apply to a college in a blue state, or that a liberal high school senior might avoid a school in a red state, had long been rumored in the college admissions industry.
In 2023, Strauss’s group designed a survey to test that theory, evidently the first of its kind. The survey found that 24% of seniors ruled out potential colleges over state politics.
Art & Science Group has run three subsequent surveys. Each time, the quotient of students avoiding schools for political reasons has risen.
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Colleges might not know they're losing students over politics
But Strauss and his colleagues theorize that even high-demand schools like USC and Rice lose students over state politics. They just might not know it.
“If students had eliminated you because of politics, you’re not hearing from them, because they’re not there,” said Jamie Ealy, vice president of Art & Science Group.
Much discussion in academia has centered on whether students make a final decision on which college to attend based partly on state politics, the report says.
The new survey found, however, that most students rule out colleges much earlier in the process, when they first consider where to apply…