Report: Students become more liberal throughout college

A new report shows that while college students have been shown to fail when it comes to understanding core civics, they become more liberal on controversial social issues during their pursuit of higher education.

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute -- a conservative think tank -- will officially release the report Wednesday that shows people with college degrees are more likely to support gay marriage and abortion and less likely to think that the Bible is the word of God.

The report, called "The shaping of the American mind," says colleges nationwide fail to adequately teach civic knowledge -- an argument based on results of the institute's past surveys -- but they do influence students when it comes to polarizing social topics. The authors conclude that if students had a better grasp of civic knowledge, they'd be more likely to embrace free enterprise and the notion that anyone can succeed with hard work and perseverance.

In the report, 25 percent of respondents who earned only a high school diploma supported same-sex marriage, compared with 39 percent of people holding a bachelor's degree and 46 percent of those with a master's degree.

Kevin Correa, assistant director of the University of Colorado's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center, said he thinks students are introduced to more diversity and varying perspectives during college.

"Those interactions lead people to start questioning what messages they received their entire lives," Correa said. "College is a time when young adults start forming their own world views."

Gregory Carlson, president of CU's College Republicans, said he's become more conservative throughout his time in Boulder.

"I definitely think that there is a liberal bias in most classes, and sometimes it's unintentional," said Carlson, who abandoned his left-leaning political beliefs after high school partly because of national security concerns following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Carlson said he thinks colleges face a challenging task when it comes to addressing a liberal bias, but he thinks CU would benefit from its planned "Visiting Chair in Conservative Thought and Policy," an idea unveiled by campus leaders in 2007. The school is still in the fundraising phase for the $9 million endowment.

"I think it's important to hear all sides of issues," Carlson said.

The Intercollegiate Studies Institute polled about 2,500 randomly selected people. The new report is the fourth in a series that the group has released to advocate that universities adopt better-balanced curricula and place more emphasis on the basics of American history.

In 2007, the group released a report showing that freshmen averaged 50 percent on its civics test that included U.S. history, government and the economy. Seniors scored 54 percent on the civic-literacy test. CU students were not involved in the 2007 test but failed a similar 2006 pop quiz.

Three years ago, CU's regents decided to direct an extra $22,000 in donated money every year to the Western civilization center on the Boulder campus. On top of that, $86,000 in earnings accumulated from the endowment help fund the center.

The money came from the unrestricted Thomas G. Corlett Memorial Fund.

Michael Grant, CU's associate vice chancellor for undergraduate education, said he believes there were flaws in the way the institute tested students' civic knowledge. He said the testing required memorizing facts instead of critically evaluating economic and political systems.

"My personal reaction is that I think the assessment instrument is very faulty," said Grant, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology.

In CU's College of Arts and Sciences, dozens of courses address civics and are among the offerings for core courses that students need to take before they graduate.

CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said the report's critique of civic literacy doesn't take into account the amount that students volunteer.

"It is appropriate to raise the question, 'What do American college students know about basic American civics and history?,' Hilliard said. "One thing I think gets lost in the debate is how civically engaged students actually are."

On the Boulder campus, more than 13,000 students -- nearly half of the student body -- are engaged in community services.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Brittany Anas at 303-473-1132 or anasb@dailycamera.com.