I know this isn’t what you asked for, but some larger schools have very distinct “college within a college” programs, that are often honors based. Some of these seem to skew “right.” The first one that comes to mind is Clemson’s Lyceum program. The motto is actually, “Big school. Small Community. Great books.”
University of Tulsa also just launched a new program. And University of Austin just started taking applications for its first class after raising 200 million. I understand that the first 100 kids accepted get free tuition for all four years
The OP should be fully aware that this university exists only on paper at the moment and is unaccredited, which means students are ineligible for federal or private student aid or loans (hence the seeming generosity). A degree from an unaccredited college will be useless for graduate school and in the eyes of many companies, so it’s a risky proposition in my opinion.
Oh wow, I think you are right. I saw that the state gave them authority to grant degrees and I thought that amounted to accreditation. I guess not. Thanks for clarifying!
I think the FIRE data is interesting overall (and I’m a huge fan of the organization) - but I wouldn’t use average Viewpoint (or their average rankings) to imply apolitical. (You could use “Tolerance for Conservative Speakers” as a proxy for conservative friendliness, though I just have no idea how many people are included in these estimates or how trustworthy the data is.)
I think determining apolitical is really more of a school-by-school basis - talking to students/families, looking at school newspapers, etc. Unfortunately you have to sacrifice scale for accuracy.
I get your point. While he is looking for more of an apolitical environment, I use the FIRE ratio more to look for balance rather than lack of interest in politics. So I may have worded that incorrectly.
Any school that is 10:1 plus on the viewpoint ratio I think would be too lopsided for what my son is looking for. 2:1 3:1 4:1 would be more his speed, in either direction. And of course it’s just one datapoint.
I’m sure there are some conservative students at Davidson but I am married to an alum and know many many alums, most of whom are not conservative at all. We have one Davidson alum friend who is now conservative (he was not when he was in school) and have many more friends from Davidson who are left of center, some extremely left of center. One of our alum friends has a son who goes there now. I have not talked to the son about his political beliefs, but knowing his parents I would guess he is moderately progressive. One of our Davidson friends is an elected Democratic politician and another is the most liberal person I know and a well known authority on global politics. Of course, I don’t know the whole alumni base or the whole current student body but just wanted to give that perspective.
Furman is the school I was going to suggest for a conservative, non religious, school. Although I’m sure there will also be plenty of religious students there.
Niche has student ratings of political leanings under the student profiles.
I agree with Sweetgum on Davidson. From my family’s experience, most of the current student body at Davidson leans left on social issues like at most college campuses. However, my son says for the most part, students are fairly moderate in their views and the campus itself is not particularly active politically compared to some in the news. He’s got good friends on all sides of the political spectrum. I do know there are several children and grandchildren of notable Republican figures who currently attend. On the other hand, one of the Biden grandchildren spent a weekend at Davidson checking out the college last spring. It would be fair to say that the student body is more moderate politically than one would find at New England liberal arts colleges, but it is certainly not conservative.
It might be worth mentioning those that exist in a coordinate relationship with women’s colleges: Richmond (with Westhampton), Hobart (with William Smith), Saint John’s (with Saint Benedict) and Yeshiva (with Stern).
Thanks. I think the core of my question is I am hoping to find a more moderate school overall which it sounds like Davidson might be. On the whole (in my opinion) college campuses these days are too far left so generally moderate would be a step in the right direction.
I disagree with the “leftness” of most schools. I don’t think most go right or left to the point that it’s noticeable to most.
I think most college kids and campuses are apolitical - or it’s a small group that might be political but not all. And if they are, then the campuses should support them.
Most want to go to school and to party or do other things. Not get involved in politics.
I’m definitely not discouraging you from taking that step, but I also think you are likely going to have to figure out how to make your peace with this issue. Again I don’t mean you should give up your views, but I have had many varieties of conservative friends, fellow students, co-workers, and so on over the years who have felt similarly about the dominant political culture at their school or employer. And while I am sympathetic to how that could cause them some issues sometimes, I think the ones who had the best experience just found ways to get along despite those underlying differences in worldview.
Thanks everyone for your thoughtful comments here. I am inquiring for my son who started at Dartmouth but left for personal reasons. He doesn’t want to go back and is looking for a smaller school that is more conservative. He originally chose Dartmouth because it is libertarian.
I understand the comments about the “college experience” and campuses being apolitical. He is curious about Hillsdale but for obvious reasons I am wary therefore I’m trying to source other schools.
We are from New York so many of the schools discussed here are not ones I’m familiar with. Please keep the suggestions coming.
