Mirror U
At the core of much of our work as a higher ed research firm is answering, What do students want? A simple question with a complicated answer. Increasingly, the answer seems to be: “I want more of me.”
We previously shared in this newsletter the results of a survey we conducted with prospective students about the role of politics in their college choices. We found that 12% of students would eliminate a college if it leaned politically opposite their own views. Another 12% said they would not consider colleges located in states with opposing political climates. These were not the same twelve percent - collectively, nearly one in five students ruled out a college on political differences alone.
Students prefer environments where the politics feel familiar.
Cluster-buck ($)
How much would students pay for ideological comfort? A recent study found that liberal students would pay $2,617 more in tuition for a college with a ten-percentage-point lower share of conservative students, while conservative students would pay $2,201 for an equal reduction in liberals.
Put differently, students are willing to pay the equivalent of 210 Domino’s pizzas so long as they don’t have to share a slice someone who votes differently.
Looking for My Community
This clustering extends beyond politics. Students are looking for their community, their people, where they can find them, whether defined by race, religion, or other identities.
Between 2023 and 2024, enrollment at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) rose 5.9%, driven in no small part by students seeking belonging.
At the same time, enrollment rose 10 percent in the past ten years among members of the International Alliance for Christian Education, a group of many of the country’s most conservative Christian colleges. Record enrollments have been recorded at Franciscan University, Cedarville, Asbury, and Palm Beach Atlantic. Warner University, a Christian college in Florida, even had to house excess students in a resort at Legoland.
These colleges have increasingly leaned into their devoutly Christian identities. They’re rewarded for it by students and families seeking feelings of safety, comfort, and security. In the words of the president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, some students want to go to college to be challenged by hot-button topics and “others are looking for places where they can find a kinship and a homogeneous experience of belief and belonging.” (emphasis added)
Divided We Stand?
What do we do with this? On one hand, this is how branding works: define your identity, attract your tribe, build loyalty, inspire evangelists. The clustering happening in higher education is, in some ways, a mere reflection of the segmentation that happens in other industries.
But for the 440th time, we are reminded that higher education is not like other industries. A bedrock foundation of its purpose is to think critically about topics from multiple perspectives. In the small-l liberal arts tradition, we may ask, When our colleges become echoes for someone’s worldview, what are they really for?
Implications for Enrollment and Marketing Leaders
At minimum, it is critical to be aware of this dynamic – the clustering trend is not a blip, it’s reshaping how students evaluate colleges. Beyond that, how you respond depends on your college’s identity, market positioning, and institutional vision:
Identity as Differentiator: If your institution leans into a clear identity—religious, cultural, or ideological—don’t shy away from it. Students drawn to belonging will reward clarity.
Intellectual Breadth as Value: If your institution prides itself on intellectual diversity and a marketplace of ideas, that message must be visible and compelling in your marketing. Students seeking openness need to hear why your campus is the right home.
Messaging Balance: Even institutions without a sharp ideological identity should reflect carefully on how they communicate belonging because students are asking, “Will I find my community here?”
The bottom line: clustering isn’t a trend you can stop, but it is one you can navigate. How your institution responds will determine whether students see it as a mirror that reflects who they are, or a window that opens them to new perspectives.