Higher Education and Political Polarization
Paper Session
Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM (EST)
- Chair: Joshua Goodman, Boston University
Political Polarization in Higher Education
Abstract
Public trust in higher education has declined sharply in recent years, amid growing concerns about perceived ideological bias in college classrooms. This project investigates the politicization and partisan slant of U.S. college course content over the last 25 years using a novel embedding-based method that contextualizes ideological language in course descriptions. Drawing on a unique, large-scale dataset of course offerings from over 750 colleges and universities, we quantify two key dimensions: (1) polarization—the degree to which course content aligns with liberal or conservative ideological positions, and (2) politicization—the presence of explicitly political themes. On both dimensions, we document measurable shifts in course content over our study period. We further explore whether course content is primarily shaped by student demand, instructor ideology (proxied by political donations), or institutional priorities, employing a series of quasi-experimental designs including a "movers" design and a structural student demand model. Our findings provide the first large-scale, data-driven assessment of ideological trends in college instruction.The Long-Run Effects of Colleges on Civic and Political Life
Abstract
Colleges and universities are among the most important local institutions. In this paper, we examine the long-term effects of college and university establishment on social and political outcomes in the United States. We use a quasi-experimental design that compares counties in which colleges are located to "runner up'' locations that were considered but ultimately not selected. We show that the presence of higher education institutions has significant impacts on civic engagement, social trust, and political preferences. Counties with universities exhibit higher rates of volunteering, have more civic organizations, and populations with higher levels of social trust. We find muted effects on other measures of social capital. We also find aggregate political effects: places with colleges cast more votes in elections --- implying greater political power --- even as their turnout rates are not significantly different from runner-up locations. Furthermore, while there are no significant partisan differences prior to 2000, there is a growing and significant divergence in presidential vote shares in favor of the Democratic Party after 2000. Finally, we find that places with colleges elect members of Congress that are increasingly liberal on both economic and racial issues. These findings suggest that universities play a causal role in shaping the civic and political culture of the communities in which they are located.Changing Minds: How Academic Fields Shape Political Attitudes
Abstract
College education is a key determinant of political attitudes in the United States and other countries. This paper highlights an important source of variation among college graduates: studying different academic fields has sizable effects on their political attitudes. Using surveys of about 300,000 students across 477 U.S. colleges, we find several results. First, relative to the natural sciences, studying the social sciences and humanities tends to make students more left-leaning, whereas studying economics and business makes them more right-leaning. Second, the rightward effects of economics and business come from shifts on economic policy issues (taxation, healthcare), whereas the leftward effects of the humanities and social sciences come from shifts on cultural issues (LGBTQ, race). Third, these effects extend to behavior: the social sciences and humanities increase activism, while economics and business increase the emphasis on financial success. Fourth, the effects operate through teaching rather than socialization or earnings expectations. Finally, the implications are substantial. If all students majored in economics or business, the college–noncollege ideological gap would shrink by about 30 percent. A uniform-major scenario, in which everyone studies the same field, would reduce ideological variance and the gender gap among graduates. Together, the results show that academic fields shape students’ attitudes and that field specialization contributes to political fragmentation.Discussant(s)
Riley Acton
,
Miami University
Ro'ee Levy
,
Tel Aviv University
Lois Miller
,
University of South Carolina
Joshua Goodman
,
Boston University
JEL Classifications
- I2 - Education and Research Institutions
- P0 - General