The liberalizing influence of college: some new evidence
Rich H.E.
1977
Adolescence
5
This paper examines changes in the liberalism-conservatism of college students and their non-college peers. It is concluded that college students do not become more liberal than the control group of non-college cohorts. What has been taken in the past as a liberalizing effect of the school milieu may have been a general environmental effect acting on all youth. However, as reported previously, liberal arts and social science students are found to be more liberal than education, physical science and pre-professional students. Furthermore, the number of classes a student takes where social and political issues predominate is found to be the most important variable in accounting for liberalism. Data were collected in a mailed survey of students from two large universities and their cohorts from a nearby town.
Article
Scopus