Does going to college make people more liberal? Probably, but it's complicated...

What is it about?

Two large-scale studies investigated the relationship between higher education and political ideology. The first study looked at differences in people's views on social and economic issues, as well as how they identify politically. Results indicated that, for decades, US adults with bachelor's degrees have held more left-leaning views on social issues, but not economic ones. Until the 2010s, graduates did not identify as more liberal than non-graduates. However, since around 2012, graduates have increasingly identified as liberal, while non-graduates have remained steady. The second study looked at how students political identities change during their college years. In the mid-1990s, students did not change, but they have increasingly done so since. That said, there are major differences across majors (e.g., English & arts move most to the left, while business and engineering actually shift right), as well as demographics (e.g., women move leftward more than men), and other individual characteristics.

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Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

Why is it important?

These studies provide important evidence regarding a hotly disputed topic in the United States today. Although they reveal an important and growing divide in political identity, they also undermine sweeping claims about ideological effects of higher education. We must instead consider in a much more fine-grained way how, when, and for whom attending higher education affects which aspects of ideology.