Most conservative colleges in America
Although colleges are generally expected to remain neutral on political issues, nearly half of Americans believe that higher education is biased toward liberal ideals. In a September 2025 poll conducted by Vanderbilt University, 43% of survey respondents agreed with the statement that colleges tend to favor left-leaning viewpoints over conservative sentiments.
This belief led right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk to form the "Professor Watchlist," an online platform launched in 2016 that lists college professors thought to be aligned with liberal causes. Use of the watchlist has accelerated significantly since Kirk was killed on a college campus while participating in a political event in September 2025. However, his death didn't occur at a particularly liberal school, but instead at Utah Valley University, part of America's network of conservative colleges.
Typically religiously affiliated and conservative, these schools distinguish themselves through a codified sense of religious identity, strong conservative ideologies, or deep-rooted connections to conservative politicians and organizations. Some schools inherit a conservative vibe from their communities, while others develop a conservative culture on their own. Some are inherently conservative because of their professional or business-friendly nature, while others are steeped in a deeply held history of conservatism.
Stacker examined the nation's colleges and universities and compiled a list of the 50 most conservative colleges in the United States. For this list, we consulted Niche's 2026 rankings, which ranked schools' conservatism based on students' own reviews of the schools' campus communities. These reviews consider the reviewer's political leanings, whether the reviewer has attended or is attending the school, and the reviewer's opinion of it. Details on Niche's methodology explain the site's rankings. Read on to find out which colleges are the most conservative in the country.
