From Samford to Tuskegee: Ranking Alabama’s colleges from conservative to liberal

Many universities across the nation are havens for liberal and progressive thinkers, but that is not the case in some institutions of higher learning, particularly in Alabama, where numerous colleges have strong conservative traditions.

Niche.com, a site that seeks to “make choosing a neighborhood, college, or K-12 school a more transparent process” by “providing reviews and insight from everyday experts,” has just ranked Alabama’s colleges and universities from most conservative to most liberal, and found that Samford University and Tuskegee University are the state’s most conservative and most liberal institutions.

To measure the level of conservatism or liberalism at each school, Niche collected data on the number of students who self-identified as conservative or liberal as well as their perception of the campus’s political leaning in general.

At Samford, 3.4 out of every 5 students self-identified as conservative, and 3.5 out of every 5 believed the campus as a whole leaned more to the right. Tuskegee University is Alabama’s most liberal university, but 2.5 out of 5 students still identify as conservative, and 2.8 out of 5 feel the campus is conservative as well. So Alabama’s most “liberal” colleges may really just be “less conservative.”

Here’s Niche’s full list of Alabama universities ranked from most conservative to most liberal:

1. Samford University
2. Faulkner University
3. University of Alabama at Huntsville
4. University of Alabama
5. Auburn University
6. Troy University
7. Oakwood University
8. Athens State University
9. Jacksonville State University
10. Alabama A&M University
11. University of Alabama at Birmingham
12. University of North Alabama
13. Auburn University – Montgomery
14. University of South Alabama
15. University of Montevallo
16. Alabama State University
17. Tuskegee University

Six Alabama schools were included in the top 100 most conservative schools nationwide: Samford (18), Faulkner (24), UAH (45), Alabama (49), Auburn (60), and Troy (91). According to Niche, Brigham Young University in Idaho is the most conservative school in the country. Unsurprisingly, a great number of the most conservative schools in the U.S. are located in the South, with 45 colleges and universities below the Mason-Dixon line making the list. Four other SEC schools were also included on the most conservative list along with Auburn and Alabama: Ole Miss (33), Texas A&M (37), Mississippi State (51), and Arkansas (93).

No Alabama schools made the national list of the most liberal universities, and only six schools on the top 100 list are located in the South. Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington takes the title of most liberal college in the country.