What Color do You Want Your Campus to be?

As you are researching colleges, you will hear comments about how one campus is “very liberal” or another is “extremely conservative”, or another is “middle of the road”: These are references to the political leanings of a college campus. Is it red, blue or somewhere in between? Are all students of the same persuasion?

How do you find out? Here are some tips for exploring the political atmosphere on a college campus:

1. Check out the list of college clubs? What kinds of clubs are available?
2. Look at the campus newspaper or online news? What are the issues? Are the issues balanced, or slanted more toward a liberal or conservative viewpoint?
3. Review the mission statement.  Does the college have core beliefs that favor one political perspective than another?
4. Check the school’s social media.  What is the twitter and facebook chatter covering?
5. What kind of events are popular on campus?  Where do students like to gather?

Many colleges encourage a balanced political dialogue. After researching the school, do you feel you would fit in?  Would it meet your needs to find a “liberal”, “conservative” or “middle of the road” school?

Create a folder on your computer and research colleges. Add your comments into a folder for each college you research.