This is not a Republican illusion. The political leanings of academia are very real.
Most professors identify as liberal and Democrat. University administrators skew left as well.
It’s striking how few professors are conservative or Republican.
The imbalance began during the Reagan era and has accelerated since that time. It’s most severe in the social sciences and humanities, though the number of liberal professors has increased across all disciplines.
The education establishment in general stands out as a major supporter of Democrats, ranked 13th on Open Secrets’ list of top industry contributors in 2024. Several prominent universities were listed in the top 100 companies whose workforce donated the most to Joe Biden in 2020.
College towns are also hotbeds of progressive culture that can deliver decisive margins for Democrats in competitive statewide races.
It’s not surprising that universities are now in the crosshairs of the Trump administration.
This isn’t the old GOP that complained about radical campus liberals while attracting sizeable shares of the college educated vote. Political tensions are much higher today, and party coalitions are divided by educational attainment.
In 2024, for example, a majority of voters without a college degree supported Trump while a majority with a college degree supported Harris.
As the diploma divide expands, universities are increasingly ensnared in political disputes, pressured by one side to stand up and by the other to stand aside.
This is troubling.
Public confidence in higher education has reached an all-time low. The primary factor cited is political agendas.
Approximately seventy percent say higher education is headed in the wrong direction.
Understandably there is a strong desire within universities to push back against Trump.
But that would only exacerbate the situation.
Consider the Marches for Science that took place following Trump’s victory in 2016.
Democrat lawmakers congratulated researchers for organizing and fighting back. Republicans charged left-wing bias.
