College is supposed to be the best four years of your life. But if you’re a vocally conservative student, you might find life on most campuses today to be more of a source of consternation than conviviality.
Even though most college campuses lean far to the left, you can still find highly regarded schools where conservative students are not just tolerated but welcomed with open arms.
This guide lists the 10 best colleges for conservatives in America.
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The 10 Best Colleges for Conservatives
In coming up with our list of the 10 best colleges for conservatives, we focused not necessarily on schools with heavily right-wing student bodies but on schools with tolerant political climates and that believe free speech is paramount.
That’s because we don’t believe the purpose of college is to ensconce oneself in an echo chamber of like-minded people and viewpoints but to expand one’s mind by engaging with different ideas and perspectives respectfully and with tolerance for opposing views. That’s why you won’t find the likes of Liberty University or Oral Roberts on our list.
To identify schools with strong commitments to free speech, we leaned heavily on the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and their free speech rankings, which take into account institutional policies governing student speech on campus.
We also looked at whether each school has officially adopted the Chicago Statement for Free Speech, a commitment launched at the University of Chicago to open inquiry and a free marketplace of ideas on campus.
Finally, we considered the campus climate at each school, eschewing those with repeated incidences of conservative students being harassed, targeted, or silenced.
Here are our top 10 colleges for conservative students.
University of Chicago
- Location: Chicago, IL
- U.S. News ranking: #6 in National Universities
- Acceptance rate: 6%
- Graduation rate: 95%
- FIRE free speech rating: Green
- Adopted Chicago Statement for Free Speech: Yes
The University of Chicago isn’t a conservative school, per se, but it’s a great place for conservative students because the culture there is fiercely protective of free speech and of making all students feel comfortable to voice their opinion.
UC is the birthplace of the Chicago Statement for Free Speech, a pledge written as a pushback against the growing threat of censorship (particularly of right-leaning viewpoints) on college campuses, which dozens of schools have gone on to sign.
The faculty at UC is left-leaning overall, but nowhere near to the degree you’ll find at most elite colleges. The economics department in particular is known for professors that espouse the free market principles taught by the likes of Milton Friedman.
Hillsdale College
- Location: Hillsdale, MI
- U.S. News ranking: #46 in National Liberal Arts Colleges
- Acceptance rate: 24%
- Graduation rate: 87%
- FIRE free speech rating: Green
- Adopted Chicago Statement for Free Speech: Yes
Many people who are familiar with Hillsdale College, a liberal arts school in Southern Michigan, mistakenly pigeonhole it as a school for conservatives only, one where a liberal student would be unwelcome and ostracized.
But that misses the mark completely. Yes, the student body at Hillsdale is overwhelmingly right-leaning, but like at the University of Chicago, the guiding ethos at Hillsdale is free speech and open inquiry.
No matter your stance on an issue, you’re expected to back it up with data, facts, and logic. Arguing any viewpoint, right or left, with appeals to emotion and ad hominem attacks won’t cut it at Hillsdale.
Purdue University
- Location: West Lafayette, IN
- U.S. News ranking: #49 in National Universities
- Acceptance rate: 69%
- Graduation rate: 81%
- FIRE free speech rating: Green
- Adopted Chicago Statement for Free Speech: Yes
Purdue earns a top spot on this list because it was the first school after the University of Chicago to sign the Chicago Statement for Free Speech.
The university’s president until 2023, Mitch Daniels, was also once a Republican governor of Indiana. When almost every school in the country was threatening to have remote “learning” for the Fall 2020 semester because of Covid, Daniels was one of the first leaders of a major university to announce they would be open for in-person classes.
Trinity College—Hartford
- Location: Hartford, CT
- U.S. News ranking: #46 in National Liberal Arts Colleges
- Acceptance rate: 36%
- Graduation rate: 83%
- FIRE free speech rating: Yellow
- Adopted Chicago Statement for Free Speech: No
There aren’t many schools in the Northeast that are particularly conservative-friendly, especially where liberal arts colleges are concerned. But Trinity College in Hartford, a top-50 LAC that was originally established as an alternative to Yale, is like a bright red tomato in the middle of a deep blue sea.
Just take a look at two of its most famous alums: conservative commentators George Will and Tucker Carlson. It’s a popular school for “finance bros,” and many of the school’s graduates get funneled directly into Wall Street and consulting jobs.
If you’re still not convinced that Trinity is heaven for preppy conservatives, just consider the most popular sport on campus: squash.
Washington and Lee University
- Location: Lexington, VA
- U.S. News ranking: #11 in National Liberal Arts Colleges
- Acceptance rate: 21%
- Graduation rate: 94%
- FIRE free speech rating: Yellow
- Adopted Chicago Statement for Free Speech: Yes
Washington and Lee University is another school that is perceived as being way more conservative than it really is. Talk to some of its haters on the left and they’ll tell you anyone more liberal than Ted Cruz need not apply.
But when you drill into the actual data, you’ll find that the student body has a literal 50/50 split between liberals and conservatives. It’s completely balanced politically, but it seems right wing just because almost every other college leans so far to the left.
Claremont McKenna College
- Location: Claremont, CA
- U.S. News ranking: #8 in National Liberal Arts Colleges
- Acceptance rate: 11%
- Graduation rate: 92%
- FIRE free speech rating: Green
- Adopted Chicago Statement for Free Speech: Yes
Claremont McKenna College is part of a five-college consortium of liberal arts colleges in Claremont, CA. It’s by far the most conservative of the five and one or the more conservative LACs in the country.
That said, CMC espouses a California-brand conservativism, not a Bible Belt conservatism. In other words, economic freedom and small government but also respect for individual liberties such as LGBTQ rights and the freedom to choose.
Baylor University
- Location: Waco, TX
- U.S. News ranking: #75 in National Universities
- Acceptance rate: 57%
- Graduation rate: 78%
- FIRE free speech rating: Blue (Warning)
- Adopted Chicago Statement for Free Speech: No
Baylor University is known to many as the “Baptist Notre Dame,” as it’s the most prestigious and well-known university affiliated with the Southern Baptist tradition. As such, it attracts many socially conservative and highly religious students. In straw polls taken during election years, the student body at Baylor almost always overwhelmingly supports the Republican candidate.
We knocked Baylor down a few points on our list because of its blue (warning) rating on free speech from FIRE. The university has a number of stated policies that indicate the administration reaches too far in regulating what students say in public forums and post on social media.
Miami University—Ohio
- Location: Oxford, OH
- U.S. News ranking: #103 in National Universities
- Acceptance rate: 89%
- Graduation rate: 81%
- FIRE free speech rating: Yellow
- Adopted Chicago Statement for Free Speech: Yes
Miami of Ohio, or “J. Crew U” as people in the state often refer to it, is known as the preppy, conservative alternative to Ohio State.
Its student body is known for being attractive, well-dressed, upper middle class, and politically conservative. The school also has a strong Greek and party scene, and several well-known national fraternities and sororities were founded there.
If you’re conservative but love to throw down, Miami of Ohio might be the school for you.
Southern Methodist University
- Location: Dallas, TX
- U.S. News ranking: #68 in National Universities
- Acceptance rate: 53%
- Graduation rate: 80%
- FIRE free speech rating: Yellow
- Adopted Chicago Statement for Free Speech: No
Southern Methodist University is another school populated by Greek Life and wealthy, conservative, well-dressed students.
It’s a little higher on the academic totem pole than Miami of Ohio and also has many more wealthy, well-connected alums. SMU’s Dallas location also positions students for prestigious internships and jobs, both in and out of politics.
If you attend SMU and run in the right circles, you can use your network and the connections you make to ensure you’ll never struggle to find lucrative work.
Dartmouth College
- Location: Hanover, NH
- U.S. News ranking: #13 in National Universities
- Acceptance rate: 6%
- Graduation rate: 95%
- FIRE free speech rating: Yellow
- Adopted Chicago Statement for Free Speech: No
Dartmouth isn’t the perfect school for conservatives. It’s had a number of troubling incidents involving right-leaning students being harassed, targeted, and shut out of important campus conversations. But compared to most of the other Ivies, it’s the most Republican-friendly and has arguably the largest contingent of conservative students on campus.
Dartmouth also has a large Greek scene in which about 60% of students participate. As a general rule, conservative students at Dartmouth are more likely to find like-minded peers in Greek life than outside of it.
