Colleges are increasingly becoming political echo chambers, a trend that jeopardizes the health of American democracy, according to sociologist Neil Gross. In his new book, "What Happened to College?: How Politics Broke Higher Education and What We Can Do to Fix It," Gross argues that politics has become the central organizing principle of the undergraduate experience, influencing everything from course selection to friendships and major choices.
Gross, a professor at Colby College, notes that students are increasingly considering "political fit" when applying to colleges, with polling data indicating that half of undergraduates assess this factor. Some students actively seek out institutions with reputations for activism, such as Oberlin and Barnard, while others look for campuses perceived as more apolitical to focus on social life. A newer trend involves students, particularly women, boycotting schools in states with abortion bans.
Colleges themselves are exacerbating this polarization by marketing themselves to specific political demographics. Gross points to subtle messaging in school tours and brochures, as well as explicit statements like UC Berkeley's undergraduate admissions page celebrating its history of activism. Conversely, institutions like Vanderbilt and the University of Chicago are positioning themselves as havens for free speech to attract moderate or politically alienated students.
Gross expressed concern that this political marketing creates insular environments where genuine debate is stifled. "I don’t think it’s really good for students," he stated. "What really leads to the best experience is when you’ve got a mix of people with different views."
Once on campus, this ideological sorting continues. Gross reports that students select roommates, pursue romantic partners, choose majors, form friendships, and even ostracize others based on their political affiliations. One student described conservatives on their campus as "isolated and resentful," while labeling progressives as intellectually "lazy" and driven by social acceptance rather than truth. Romance, too, has become politicized, with some students reportedly altering their appearance to mask their political identity.
"If students can do little more than rehearse talking points they have heard in their social media bubble, they won’t learn the tools of constructive dialogue or know the thrill that comes from developing an original argument," Gross warned.
Gross, who identifies as a liberal Democrat, places blame on higher education institutions for fostering this environment, suggesting that elite colleges provided what many progressive students sought: an experience without significant engagement with conservative ideas. "Elite colleges and their faculty should have known this wouldn’t turn out well," he wrote.
To counter this trend, Gross proposes reforms such as randomizing roommate selections to foster diverse interactions and incorporating a requirement for openness to different views in admissions decisions. He asserts that if colleges continue to produce graduates who are unaware of the perspectives of the broader population, the social fabric of the country will further deteriorate. "If you want a better democracy, you should care about what happens in higher education," Gross concluded. "When people just vehemently hate those on the other side… all of the normal mechanisms of democracy begin to function less well."