Politics increasingly shape students' college choices, survey finds
Published by The National News Desk
More college-bound students are snubbing schools for political reasons.
Art & Science Group, a higher-education consultancy firm, found that about a third of such students dismiss schools solely on political grounds during the college-search process.
The firm first asked the question of high school seniors in 2023. At that time, 24% crossed potential college choices off their list for political reasons.
In two rounds of surveys this year – one over the winter and one over the summer – those shares rose to 31% and 34%, respectively.
Art & Science Group Vice President Jamie Ealy called that a “significant” jump from just a few years ago.
And he said it’s clear from the trend that politics have become a real factor in college decisions, alongside considerations like cost, academic programs and prestige.
“Now this political piece has woven into that narrative for students,” Ealy said. “It's something that matters to them as they're making decisions. And it matters early.”
Art & Science Group found that students are ruling out schools over politics right from the get-go, before they even whittle down their application lists.
And around half of students say politics has some influence on their college decisions, even if they don’t let it serve as the determining factor.
Students aren’t just ruling out individual colleges, but they’re also crossing entire states and regions off their list over politics.
Liberal-leaning students were more likely to rule out colleges in the South, including Texas and Florida.
Conservative-leaning students were more likely to rule out schools in California, Colorado and New York.
Ealy said about a quarter of those students even ruled out going to a college in their home state, where a public school might be their most affordable option.
Still, most of the downside from this phenomenon lies with the institutions, not the individual students.
Ealy said this report should serve as an “alarm bell for institutions” facing another constraint on enrollment.
He said some schools have the “market power” to overwhelm political concerns for incoming freshmen.
“But most schools aren't Duke,” said Ealy, using the acclaimed university with a rich basketball tradition in Durham, North Carolina, as an example.
Ealy said colleges increasingly need to figure out how to reach more students and make a compelling case that supersedes political concerns.
“It's going to be a question for the vast majority of institutions that are trying to attract students who may initially rule them out for politics before they ever even get a chance to make a case for who they are,” he said.
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