Most liberal colleges in America

Published 6:00 am Tuesday, February 1, 2022

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Most liberal colleges in America

While there is no indisputable proof that there are more liberals than conservatives in academia—and while it is likely that arguments against political bias have more to do with ideological challenges than oppression—the perception that higher education is overwhelmingly liberal is a persistent one. A recurring theme in some conservative circles is that U.S. colleges are too liberal in general: Reporting from The Conversation holds that certain activists “have claimed that universities brainwash students and indoctrinate them into believing a liberal ideology.”

It is true, though, that some schools are more liberal than others. Just as there are purposely conservative schools, there also are schools that have a history of liberalism or progressive ideology, schools that exist in more liberal regions of the country, and schools that are progressive by design. These schools tend to be among the most prestigious, largest, and best-endowed schools in the United States.

Stacker consulted the Niche college explorer site in order to determine the 50 most liberal universities and colleges in America. For this gallery, we ranked schools’ liberalism based on students’ reviews of the schools’ campus communities. These reviews weighed the political leaning of the reviewer, if the reviewer attends or has attended the school, and the reviewer’s opinion of it.

Niche’s methodology considered students’ self-reported political leanings while at the college they currently or recently attend(ed); and the results of student surveys (data released and accurate as of January 2022) on campus political preferences, specifically liberal students’ opinions about the political leanings of students at the college they currently or recently attend(ed).

Keep reading to find out which schools are the country’s most liberal.

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#50. CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice

– Location: New York, NY
– Students: 11,200 (student to faculty ratio: 18:1)
– Acceptance rate: 41% (ACT: data not available; SAT: 980-1130)
– Net price per year: $3,814
– Graduation rate: 52%
– Six-year median earnings: $44,900

A few liberal traditions overlap in CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice. It’s a public school located in the heart of a major city, with a focus on criminal justice combined with the eclectic liberal arts. The school is spread over several buildings in midtown Manhattan.

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#49. University of Southern California

– Location: Los Angeles, CA
– Students: 19,622 (student to faculty ratio: 9:1)
– Acceptance rate: 11% (ACT: 31-34; SAT: 1360-1530)
– Net price per year: $37,521
– Graduation rate: 92%
– Six-year median earnings: $74,000

The University of Southern California is private, despite the state-school style of name, and it’s one of California’s oldest universities with an established year of 1880. The school is highly selective, making it one of the West Coast’s most prestigious. There are over 50,000 students when you combine undergraduate and graduate students.

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#48. Concordia College

– Location: Moorhead, MN
– Students: 1,956 (student to faculty ratio: 11:1)
– Acceptance rate: 68% (ACT: 21-27; SAT: 960-1340)
– Net price per year: $23,970
– Graduation rate: 72%
– Six-year median earnings: $44,500

Small Concordia College is a liberal arts college located in Moorhead, Minnesota, a city that borders Fargo, North Dakota, on their shared border. The school is private and Lutheran, with a curriculum that includes religious studies. The school was founded in 1891.

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#47. Clark Atlanta University

– Location: Atlanta, GA
– Students: 3,255 (student to faculty ratio: 19:1)
– Acceptance rate: 55% (ACT: 17-20; SAT: 940-1080)
– Net price per year: $27,931
– Graduation rate: 44%
– Six-year median earnings: $35,500

Clark Atlanta University was founded in 1865 and is a historically Black university. Overall, the historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are more liberal than their majority white peers. Clark Atlanta is also situated in the bright blue city of Atlanta, which helped Joe Biden win the state by a less than 1% margin in the 2020 presidential election.

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#46. University of North Carolina – Greensboro

– Location: Greensboro, NC
– Students: 14,007 (student to faculty ratio: 16:1)
– Acceptance rate: 82% (ACT: 20-25; SAT: 1010-1180)
– Net price per year: $11,108
– Graduation rate: 59%
– Six-year median earnings: $37,500

The University of North Carolina – Greensboro is a liberal arts university founded in 1891. It’s a public school located in the diverse city of Greensboro, which has a large percentage of Black residents who tend to be more liberal voters. UNC-Greensboro is a Division I athletics school.

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#45. Mount Saint Mary’s University – Los Angeles

– Location: Los Angeles, CA
– Students: 1,745 (student to faculty ratio: 10:1)
– Acceptance rate: 90% (ACT: 17-22; SAT: 920-1170)
– Net price per year: $29,708
– Graduation rate: 65%
– Six-year median earnings: $53,200

Private, Catholic Mount Saint Mary’s was founded in 1925. The school has a majority Latino student body, a demographic group that historically votes for Democratic candidates. Its peaceful, classical campus and Los Angeles location have made it a popular place to film TV shows and movies.

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#44. Barnard College

– Location: New York, NY
– Students: 2,584 (student to faculty ratio: 9:1)
– Acceptance rate: 12% (ACT: 31-34; SAT: 1340-1520)
– Net price per year: $26,649
– Graduation rate: 92%
– Six-year median earnings: $57,900

Barnard College came to be in response to Columbia University—at the time—being all men. An independent affiliate of Columbia and today among the most-prestigious private women’s liberal arts schools, both schools share certain classes, clubs, and buildings. As one of the “Seven Sisters,” the school produced such well-known graduates as Martha Stewart, Joan Rivers, Ntozake Shange, Cynthia Nixon, and Zora Neale Hurston.

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#43. Temple University

– Location: Philadelphia, PA
– Students: 26,247 (student to faculty ratio: 13:1)
– Acceptance rate: 60% (ACT: 22-28; SAT: 1010-1230)
– Net price per year: $23,032
– Graduation rate: 74%
– Six-year median earnings: $50,500

Temple University is a public state university that was founded in 1884. It’s located in Philadelphia, a large blue city that is also part of the mostly liberal “Northeast megalopolis” that runs up through New York and Boston. Temple is known for its extensive research programs and for its professional schools.

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#42. Binghamton University, SUNY

– Location: Vestal, NY
– Students: 13,845 (student to faculty ratio: 19:1)
– Acceptance rate: 41% (ACT: 29-32; SAT: 1280-1440)
– Net price per year: $17,424
– Graduation rate: 82%
– Six-year median earnings: $61,600

Binghamton University is part of the State University of New York system, with campuses scattered in the central New York area that includes Binghamton. Influential comics artist Art Spiegelman attended the university before dropping out.

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#41. Tuskegee University

– Location: Tuskegee, AL
– Students: 2,254 (student to faculty ratio: 10:1)
– Acceptance rate: 52% (ACT: 18-23; SAT: 880-1100)
– Net price per year: $33,420
– Graduation rate: 52%
– Six-year median earnings: $35,500

Tuskegee is a historically Black university that was the longtime home to professor George Washington Carver. It was also the home base of the Tuskegee Airmen, an elite group of Black pilots who trained a few miles from the main campus.

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#40. Willamette University

– Location: Salem, OR
– Students: 1,565 (student to faculty ratio: 11:1)
– Acceptance rate: 78% (ACT: 25-30; SAT: 1100-1330)
– Net price per year: $36,223
– Graduation rate: 69%
– Six-year median earnings: $51,100

Willamette University is a “College that Changes Lives,” with a high graduation rate compared with peer institutions. The undergraduate programs are complemented by a law school attended by just a few hundred students.

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#39. CUNY Queens College

– Location: Queens, NY
– Students: 12,532 (student to faculty ratio: 16:1)
– Acceptance rate: 49% (ACT: data not available; SAT: 1040-1200)
– Net price per year: $4,471
– Graduation rate: 56%
– Six-year median earnings: $48,200

CUNY Queens College is part of the City University New York network, which has a total of 25 locations around the city. The city of New York is quite liberal anyway, but diverse Queens, with residents from all over the world, is even more so. Queens College was founded in 1937.

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#38. Academy of Art University

– Location: San Francisco, CA
– Students: 3,758 (student to faculty ratio: 14:1)
– Acceptance rate: 100% (ACT: data not available; SAT: data not available)
– Net price per year: $31,759
– Graduation rate: 45%
– Six-year median earnings: $38,600

Academy of Art University is a for-profit art school located in San Francisco. Popular wisdom holds that creative people like artists and actors tend to be liberal. That seems all the more true in very liberal San Francisco.

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#37. CUNY New York City College of Technology

– Location: Brooklyn, NY
– Students: 10,572 (student to faculty ratio: 18:1)
– Acceptance rate: 88% (ACT: data not available; SAT: 843-1030)
– Net price per year: $4,652
– Graduation rate: 18%
– Six-year median earnings: $40,600

In the heart of Brooklyn, CUNY New York City College of Technology offers both traditional and returning college students a practical and convenient educational option. The college was founded in 1946 as a path to meaningful careers for returning World War II soldiers.

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#36. Dillard University

– Location: New Orleans, LA
– Students: 1,155 (student to faculty ratio: 13:1)
– Acceptance rate: 39% (ACT: 19-23; SAT: 980-1120)
– Net price per year: $17,269
– Graduation rate: 51%
– Six-year median earnings: $35,400

Dillard University in liberal New Orleans was founded in 1869 with other parts founded later on. It’s a historically Black university associated with both the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church. The school was damaged by Hurricane Katrina and temporarily relocated.

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#35. St. John Fisher College

– Location: Rochester, NY
– Students: 2,535 (student to faculty ratio: 11:1)
– Acceptance rate: 64% (ACT: 21-26; SAT: 1070-1260)
– Net price per year: $28,468
– Graduation rate: 75%
– Six-year median earnings: $47,800

Located in the Rochester suburb of Pittsford, St. John Fisher College was founded in 1948. The school is named after a Catholic saint, John Fisher, who briefly served as Cardinal of Kent before he was martyred. Appropriately, the school’s athletic mascot is the cardinal.

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#34. Emerson College

– Location: Boston, MA
– Students: 3,827 (student to faculty ratio: 15:1)
– Acceptance rate: 33% (ACT: 27-31; SAT: 1200-1410)
– Net price per year: $46,381
– Graduation rate: 82%
– Six-year median earnings: $46,600

Small, private Emerson College was founded in 1880. The school is named not for Ralph Waldo Emerson but for Charles Wesley Emerson, a distant cousin who lived about a generation later. The college has an especially robust theater program including several prominent Boston theater venues.

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#33. Tufts University

– Location: Medford, MA
– Students: 5,742 (student to faculty ratio: 9:1)
– Acceptance rate: 15% (ACT: 32-34; SAT: 1390-1540)
– Net price per year: $26,280
– Graduation rate: 94%
– Six-year median earnings: $75,800

Located in inner suburban Boston, Tufts has a long history of robust research and an emphasis on public service. Actor Peter Gallagher is a noted alumnus, while fellow actor Rainn Wilson is a noted dropout.

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#32. San Jose State University

– Location: San Jose, CA
– Students: 23,593 (student to faculty ratio: 25:1)
– Acceptance rate: 64% (ACT: 18-27; SAT: 1020-1260)
– Net price per year: $14,471
– Graduation rate: 64%
– Six-year median earnings: $56,100

In 2019, San Jose State University opened a food pantry for its neediest students, according to NBC. Any enrolled student with an annual income of less than $33,000 may use the pantry once a week to ensure they have access to the nutrition they need.

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#31. Bennington College

– Location: Bennington, VT
– Students: 686 (student to faculty ratio: 10:1)
– Acceptance rate: 61% (ACT: data not available; SAT: data not available)
– Net price per year: $38,386
– Graduation rate: 76%
– Six-year median earnings: $29,500

Bennington boasts a high number of famous alums and instructors, especially relative to its size. These include gender theorist Judith Butler, feminist theorist Andrea Dworkin, and critic Camille Paglia.

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#30. University of San Francisco

– Location: San Francisco, CA
– Students: 6,345 (student to faculty ratio: 13:1)
– Acceptance rate: 64% (ACT: 23-29; SAT: 1130-1330)
– Net price per year: $38,422
– Graduation rate: 75%
– Six-year median earnings: $62,300

The University of San Francisco recently announced its achievement of carbon neutrality more than 30 years ahead of its 2050 target. This means the school offsets the carbon it uses, effectively casting a virtually invisible carbon footprint. The school did this by embracing green cleaning products, installing microturbines for heat and energy, and buying energy offsets, among other things.

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#29. Claflin University

– Location: Orangeburg, SC
– Students: 1,889 (student to faculty ratio: 13:1)
– Acceptance rate: 55% (ACT: 15-19; SAT: 830-1050)
– Net price per year: $18,136
– Graduation rate: 51%
– Six-year median earnings: $28,500

Claflin University is a historically Black university also linked with the United Methodist Church. It was founded just after the U.S. Civil War and is South Carolina’s oldest HBCU, with a series of notable Methodist bishops among its alumni.

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#28. California State University – San Bernardino

– Location: San Bernardino, CA
– Students: 16,549 (student to faculty ratio: 29:1)
– Acceptance rate: 69% (ACT: 15-19; SAT: 910-1090)
– Net price per year: $7,876
– Graduation rate: 55%
– Six-year median earnings: $44,500

California State University – San Bernardino was founded in 1965, making it one of the newest universities on this list. CSU San Bernardino is unusual in the University of California system for offering both Arabic language and Islamic history as part of its curriculum. The school has a popular business program.

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#27. University of Washington

– Location: Seattle, WA
– Students: 29,332 (student to faculty ratio: 20:1)
– Acceptance rate: 52% (ACT: 27-33; SAT: 1220-1470)
– Net price per year: $10,692
– Graduation rate: 84%
– Six-year median earnings: $57,700

A graduate student team from the University of Washington won a 2019 competition for environmental innovation. The team discovered a way to make batteries degrade more slowly over time, allowing them to stay useful longer. “If you can fix batteries, it has an impact on so many other clean energy technologies,” said Elizabeth Rasmussen, founder of MOtiF Materials, the University of Washington team.

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#26. Pace University

– Location: New York, NY
– Students: 7,837 (student to faculty ratio: 15:1)
– Acceptance rate: 79% (ACT: 21-27; SAT: 1050-1230)
– Net price per year: $32,492
– Graduation rate: 57%
– Six-year median earnings: $60,300

Pace University is the umbrella name for a collection of schools based in New York City and upstate, covering everything from undergraduate liberal arts to the MFA drama program home to “Inside the Actors Studio.” Alumni include “Sopranos” star Vincent Pastore and celebrity chef Rachael Ray.

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#25. Occidental College

– Location: Los Angeles, CA
– Students: 1,962 (student to faculty ratio: 9:1)
– Acceptance rate: 37% (ACT: 28-32; SAT: 1300-1480)
– Net price per year: $35,362
– Graduation rate: 86%
– Six-year median earnings: $50,600

Occidental College is the oldest liberal arts college on the West Coast. The school graduated Terry Gilliam, Jack Kemp, George Edward Alcorn, Jr., and former President Barack Obama, and actors Ben Affleck and Luke Wilson also took courses there.

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#24. University of California – Berkeley

– Location: Berkeley, CA
– Students: 29,991 (student to faculty ratio: 19:1)
– Acceptance rate: 16% (ACT: 31-35; SAT: 1330-1530)
– Net price per year: $18,522
– Graduation rate: 93%
– Six-year median earnings: $64,700

The University of California, Berkeley, has been the symbol of the progressive movement for at least the second half of the 20th century. The campus was instrumental in the Free Speech Movement of 1964, opposition to the Vietnam War, and the People’s Park Protest of 1969—where the National Guard was called against the student protesters.

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#23. Vassar College

– Location: Poughkeepsie, NY
– Students: 2,424 (student to faculty ratio: 8:1)
– Acceptance rate: 24% (ACT: 31-34; SAT: 1370-1520)
– Net price per year: $24,811
– Graduation rate: 91%
– Six-year median earnings: $54,600

One of the “Seven Sisters,” Vassar College is among the most-selective schools in the nation. Once an all-women school, Vassar became coeducational in 1969. Meryl Streep, Anthony Bourdain, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Jane Fonda, and Anne Hathaway are all alumni.

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#22. Denison University

– Location: Granville, OH
– Students: 2,263 (student to faculty ratio: 9:1)
– Acceptance rate: 29% (ACT: 27-31; SAT: 1200-1410)
– Net price per year: $36,650
– Graduation rate: 82%
– Six-year median earnings: $48,800

The 2019 passing of former U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar was hard on the Denison University community, as Luger was an alumnus (class of 1954) and a trustee of the school. “Lugar was a great Denisonian and human being. He lived the mission of the college, and in doing so, he made the world a better place,” Denison President Adam Weinberg said in a statement released by the university.

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#21. Stony Brook University, SUNY

– Location: Stony Brook, NY
– Students: 16,697 (student to faculty ratio: 19:1)
– Acceptance rate: 44% (ACT: 26-32; SAT: 1230-1440)
– Net price per year: $15,605
– Graduation rate: 76%
– Six-year median earnings: $57,600

New York’s Stony Brook University has a prestigious graduate school system that produces tons of cutting-edge research, like recent findings about brain conditions among 9/11 first responders. The Long Island institution is part of New York’s robust State University of New York system.

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#20. California State University – East Bay

– Location: Hayward, CA
– Students: 10,635 (student to faculty ratio: 26:1)
– Acceptance rate: 76% (ACT: 16-21; SAT: 800-1020)
– Net price per year: $10,902
– Graduation rate: 50%
– Six-year median earnings: $51,700

Cal State East Bay is found in the diverse community of Hayward, which experienced a heyday of industrial food production decades ago. The recent death of baseball legend and commentator Joe Morgan was especially big news for this school—his alma mater.