Posted on 12/07/2014 6:59:09 AM PST by NKP_Vet
A wide variety of rankings exist for the market of American colleges and universities. Each year, U.S. News & World Report releases its “America’s Best Colleges” edition. The magazine grades each institution based on factors including peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, and student selectivity. Yet, U.S. News does not rank the overall experience that colleges offer. That is why Young America’s Foundation presents the following list of institutions that offer a conservative experience for students. Young America’s Foundation deemed these institutions the best, and they are listed in alphabetical order.
Many conservative students seek alternatives in higher education, but they may not be fully aware of institutions that fit these criteria. The “Top Conservative College” list features institutions that proclaim, through their mission and programs, a dedication to discovering, maintaining, and strengthening the conservative values of their students.
(Excerpt) Read more at yaf.org ...
None of the listed schools appear to be universities or public higher education institutions. As such, they may be very expensive and limited in their capacity to provide many options insofar as major fields and broad learning experiences are concerned. There are excellent conservative universities such as Texas A&M that do so and are likely much cheaper to boot.
Bummer that the conservative colleges tend to be liberal arts. My kids want hard science and/or engineering. Yet, they need the same grounding in faith and western civilization as the liberal arts students.
I think many of these COLLEGES have excellent scholarship programs that mitigate your 'expensive' critique and I think that the small student body sizes would go a long way towards keeping a student out of the 300 seat classrooms found in many of the larger UNIVERSITIES. Of course the usual criteria apply in that a lack-a-dasical student will get little out of either type while a max SAT/ACT impassioned student will do well at any!
Do you consider the military academies to be conservative engineering schools?
See the other post regarding the emphasis on liberal arts and lack of science and engineering programs at small colleges..which no doubt otherwise offer great learning experiences. Also, scholarships require eligibility which not all potential students meet.
You can always have your kids split their time between schools. My daughter is going to a local community college and then transferring to save money. I’m thankful I have a practical daughter. I’m not too worried about my kids getting sucked into liberalism though I’d certainly stop contributing to their education at any school if they started expressing left wing ideology they were getting at the school. They can believe what they like but I’m not going to pay to facilitate it. Love is sometimes letting someone bear the costs of their wrong beliefs.
STEM schools are inherently conservative. Dealing with the physical universe doesn’t lend itself to liberalism. You really can’t grade on a curve in engineering.
As for the required “humanities” courses, they will be taught by pedigreed leftists, but may be safely ignored. Some of the softer sciences and biology will certainly be staffed by rabid Darwinists, but students should be prepared to deal with that reality.
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology is of the best values in the country as far as I am concerned. It had its share of leftists, but the science and engineering courses equal any in the country and for far less money.
A&M has a lot of conservative alumni and students, but it relies on public money, so can never be truly conservative. The faculty (outside the colleges of engineering and agriculture) has plenty of liberals.
military academy?
Sure. However, I really doubt my conservative boy could be sponsored by our Democratic member of Congress or Senator. IIRC, they do need a sponsor, right?
The 2nd listed college, College of the Ozarks, is totally tuition free with its work study program. Others probably have financing to cover costs so the bottom line is most are no more or less expensive than the state schools which would attract a broader (i.e., more liberal) spectrum of society.
At that point where ideology trumps education there are, I suppose, “conservative” schools. My preference would be an institution that offers all varieties of legitimate educational opportunity while at the same time reflects conservative values, in the main, among its student body and alumni. And as an Aggie grad, I can sure you that this is the case at Texas A&M, notwithstanding the presence of student organizations that exist for the advancement of progressive notions (which, by the way, are selectively present at conservative colleges as well).
My alma mater, Harding University, made the list.
Our kids already have experience with holding their own in the public school environment in CA. They can keep at it, if necessary. But it would sure be nice to be part of a whole campus of faithful and conservative people. We are looking at land grant universities in the midwest and south. Some are fairly affordable, even for an out-of-state student.
Thanks for the tip about the New Mexico school. I’ll look into it.
The in-depth study of the principles underlying our Constitution offered by Hillsdale might far outweigh any perceived "advantages" of other schools whose claim to "conservative" may rely on the fact that they may not be as liberal as their counterparts. Others on this list may have similar courses.
Would suggest that parents and students experience some of Hillsdale's online courses in the Constitution before they rule it out of their consideration for attendance.
Someone else has pointed out that scholarships may offset costs to schools whose leaders have refused to be a part of "government" control (such as Grove City).
Please note that loveliberty2 has absolutely no connection to either school--just observing that in a day when America's Constitution is under attack, and its founding principles of liberty so little understood, that there is a critical need for youth to be taught the ideas essential to liberty. If they do not understand those, then their future careers in other fields may be useless.
"Since private and publick Vices, are in Reality, though not always apparently, so nearly connected, of how much Importance, how necessary is it, that the utmost Pains be taken by the Publick, to have the Principles of Virtue early inculcated on the Minds even of children, and the moral Sense kept alive, and that the wise institutions of our Ancestors for these great Purposes be encouraged by the Government. For no people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffusd and Virtue is preservd. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauchd in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders." Samuel Adams - Letter to James Warren, November 4, 1775
Now, I can see and hear and many of the rioters in Ferguson and New York are liberal products of schools of higher education.
Darwin? What’s wrong with Darwin? The best non-religious argument against all the LGBT nonsense is Darwin. You cannot do LGBT without denying Darwin.
Nothing is wrong with Darwin, but some view his work with as much dogmatism as any Jesuit. I will not get into the creo-evo war, but have seen collateral damage on both sides.
I don’t see any reason one must go beyond the most basic of biology to argue against LBGT issues. Even simple plumbing can be used to form the argument. Lol
Darwin might say that the more a species practices homosexuality the more likely it is to become extinct. Therefore, homosexuality is a negative survival factor.
Of course, if I were a liberal, I could also say that human sexuality is just evolving since our technical prowess has obsoleted the biological requirement and we now control our own path. While not classical Darwin, it would not break the theorem. (See Transhumanism.)
Then again, there are enough angels and pin heads to keep us all busy. Ultimately, no logical or moral argument will dissuade a liberal from his self-appointed path of destruction.
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