RICHMOND — Some students would pay upwards of $2,600 more to attend a college where there are fewer students with opposing political views, according to a EdWorkingPaper published by Brown University’s Annenberg Institute.
Liberal students would spend an estimated $2,617 more, whereas conservative students would spend $2,201 for a 10% decrease of students with opposing political beliefs, according to the research.
Over the course of a few decades, both Republicans and Democrats have grown increasingly hostile toward one another. Surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2022 show 62% of Republicans have a “very unfavorable” view of the Democratic party, while 54% of Democrats hold the same view toward the Republican party.
Both parties have seen an exponential increase in “very unfavorable” views toward their opponents since 1994, when the percentages sat at 21% and 17%, respectively. These feelings and divisions have trickled down to younger generations, and students are actively choosing to attend universities that align with their political identities, according to the working paper.
As universities become increasingly politically polarized, those working in higher education are becoming concerned students aren’t attending or applying to certain colleges simply due to differing political ideologies on campus.
Isolated Intellectual or Social Environments
“Generally, I think it is very bad for students to give more weight to political beliefs, or as much weight to political beliefs, of the student body than other things like whether or not it’s a good fit academically,” said Hollie Mann, assistant professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University.
A diversity of political opinions helped expand her mind.
“One of the things I found so enriching about my own undergraduate and graduate experiences is that I was engaged in conversation and dialogue, and sure, some debate, some arguing with people who were very, very different from me,” Mann said. “That was a really wonderful experience.”
However, when students have a legitimate reason to feel uncomfortable and unsafe, it does make sense for them to attend universities where they feel most comfortable, Mann said.
According to Art &Science Group, a consulting firm that provides market research to universities, 28% of college applicants in 2024 ruled out a school due to the politics and policies of the state in which the university was located.
Among this percentage, the majority of self-identified liberal students cited state reproductive laws as a key deciding factor, whereas conservative students cited certain states as being “too Democratic.”
Many politically active college students are focused on eliminating misinformation, while simultaneously balancing their lives as activists and students, according to Kelsey Jones, adviser for the VCU Votes Student Coalition.
“It’s really a feeling of distrust in the information that they’re getting on social media platforms, and often feelings of being overwhelmed for the most part on how to be involved, but also how to be involved in a way where it doesn’t consume who they are as a student,” Jones said.
In Virginia, there are roughly 2.46 liberal students for every one conservative student, according to polling done by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a nonprofit organization committed to defending free speech on college campuses.
College Enrollment Decline
Students who abandon universities located in opposing political territory also contribute to a larger problem that colleges face nationwide: a steady decrease in the number of enrolled students since 2010.
Undergraduate enrollment decreased 15%, from 18.1 million to 15.4 million over a decade that ended in fall 2021, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
This number is projected to get worse in the coming years, with a forecasted “demographic cliff” at the forefront of this issue. The term is used to define a large decline in college-aged students that is projected to start by 2026. This is a result of increasing costs, as well as a consistently declining birth rate since the Great Recession in 2007, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics.
The number of new 18 year olds is projected to drop by 15% in Virginia from 2026-2039, according to research done by Ruffalo Noel Levitz. That means less applicants for universities.
However, student enrollment at Virginia community colleges has decreased by 23% over the last decade, according to the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, which conducts policy and program analysis on behalf of the state General Assembly.
College might not be the right choice for every person, which should be discussed more, according to Mann.
“There’s lots of work and types of jobs where it strikes me a college degree is not really necessary,” Mann said.
Trade School Increase
One popular avenue that many young adults take as an alternative to college is trade schools. These schools prepare students for hands-on careers that the working world relies on to keep things running, such as construction, mechanical and culinary fields.
“We need to sort of have a kind of respectability for jobs that don’t require a college degree and people who may wish to enter those fields and trades,” Mann said. “They deserve the same respect and regard as those who have a college degree.”
According to a report from research firm Validated Insights, fall enrollment at trade schools is projected to increase 6.6% per year through 2030, while higher education enrollment is projected to increase 0.8% annually during this time frame.
While technical and trade schools are valuable and do have their place, higher education is crucial to the advancement of our society, according to Kelly Benjamin, national spokesman for the American Association of University Professors.
“We really have to prioritize a fully-funded higher education system that serves the common good in this country as a real federal investment,” Benjamin said.
Benjamin believes that without a prioritized higher education system, the future of the United States would be in jeopardy.
“Without an informed population … we are not going to have informed citizens making decisions about the future of this country,” Benjamin said.
Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robertson School of Communication. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.
