As legislatures across the country pass bills that restrict abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, colleges within those states are increasingly finding themselves trapped and losing students to elsewhere, according to reporting from The Hill.
“I think we are in a place and a time where colleges are increasingly being seen as political places, and so it makes every sense that students would be aware of this as they’re making decisions about where to enroll, and that they would factor that into whether or not this is an institution they want to apply to,” said Katharine Meyer, fellow in the Brown Center on Education Policy with The Brookings Institution, to The Hill
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According to a poll from the Art & Science Group, 28% of prospective students ruled out attending colleges because of politics, with 75% of liberals ruling out schools because of state policies on abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. 66% of conservatives did the same for schools in states they deemed too liberal. Texas was the most commonly excluded states.
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“Schools can try to be very public about being welcoming of everybody with different opinions and stuff like that,” Economics Professor Richard Startz of the University of California Santa Barbara told The Hill. “I’m not so sure, when you’re talking about high school students who are looking for where to go, whether it’s really very easy to get that message across in any way.”
“And of course, it’s also true that there are actually realistic restrictions in a bunch of states. So, you know, there are states that have made a decision that universities, public ones, can’t have DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] offices, or these restrictions on abortion, and there are various examples like that that the schools really don’t have any control over, and it may matter to people,” Startz added.
The states that have restricted DEI offices include Florida and Texas. Many more have it on the chopping block with proposed bills.
Kevin McClure, associate professor of higher education at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, said to The Hill, “I mean, it’s a challenge because there are certain dimensions of this where the institution has no control, and they are going to be asked to implement or enforce state policy. And in my experience, the vast majority of institutions are going to do that. They’re going to comply with that, and are not necessarily going to, you know, attempt to directly kind of challenge or to circumvent state policy. And so that means that there — there are certain laws that are going to be passed that are going to have ramifications for college students as well.”
He added, “I think, you know, some institutions are likely trying to emphasize that despite what may be happening in the state, there are different realities in their particular area, and that there is a greater diversity of students and viewpoints that you can find there that creates somewhat of an island, as it were, within the greater context, political context of the state,”
“What we have to do is to double down on the role of higher education, how we are educating the next generation of leaders and what makes each institution unique, so that students can find the place that’s the right fit,” said Heidi Tseu, assistant vice president of national engagement for the American Council on Education, to The Hill.
“I think what this survey is showing is that the political noise that is generated, it doesn’t suit anyone. If students are making these decisions based on their desire to avoid politicization, we need to get the message across that higher education institutions are about education and formation, and that’s the work that I think, you know, we’re looking at when it comes to conveying the value of higher education,” she added.
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