I got my undergraduate degree at a Jesuit university. I can vouch for the fact that the classes are *very* demanding at an intellectual level. I actually received a full academic scholarship, and of all of the schools to which I applied they had the most stringent requirements. A running gag we had was that a 3.0 at our university was worth a 3.8 at one of our neighboring rivals ;^)
I only encountered two leftist professors there and they were both lay teachers. All of the priests I had came off as very conservative. I think they get a bad rap with the leftist charge—it’s not so much a political bent as that they demand intellectual rigor and understanding in addition to faith. They won’t accept students’ taking the Church’s teachings only on faith: in my experience, Jesuits demand a deeper understanding of why the teachings are the way they are from both theological and philosophical standpoints, and that sometimes includes using contrast and juxtaposition with alternate belief systems. One way to look at it is that they want students to become “worldly” before tossing them into the outside world.
I too went to a Jesuit college. I agree with your assessment. Some of the most difficult classes I ever attended. Slouch just even a teeny bit, you paid.
The non Jesuit instructors were lefties. The Jesuits were not. And they did treat us veterans well at a time when we were getting dumped on by everybody.