Just noticed the top flagships (besides in Ca) are all in red/purple states rather than blue ones

[Anonymous]

These states don’t have as established elite, private colleges. Northeast has an abundance of top tier private colleges. I would say University if Washington is an excellent public school too, so the west coast has strong publics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very interesting

See: WI, NC, GA, FL, TX, VA, MI

Love how "besides" California...California has 6 of the top 10 public universities alone. 10 of the top 20 are located in blue states (CA, MD, IL & WA).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Conservatives are more Friday night football, rah rah. Let's get drunk at a tailgate party.

Aka more fun & less uptight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most are purple leaning/trending blue, except for FL and TX, which are both huge (and neither of which has a flagship in the top 25).

Only CA, MI, and VA have flagships regularly in the top 25. MI is currently solidly blue (gov, senators, and both houses of state legislature are Dem); VA will trend back toward solidly blue because of abortion. And CA is of course the bluest blue.

Florida is ranked pretty close to UVA at #29.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of these universities (Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan) became good when the state was more progressive and invested heavily in education. That reputation persists despite recent political shifts.

I feel like this is true of North Carolina (where I'm from) as well. North Carolina built a strong public higher education system because of a general consensus towards "business progressivism" starting in the '20s. It's always been socially conservative, but it was a more progressive state in the 20th century than its neighbors, and substantial investments in public universities was part of that. That started to change as the Republicans solidified control in the past ten years, but the universities the old system built are still there.

[Anonymous]

I certainly consider University of Washington to be a top flagship. Maybe the issue is also your list?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very interesting

See: WI, NC, GA, FL, TX, VA, MI

Inevitably these college towns are overwhelmingly blue. Very interesting.

It is like in a sea of ignorance, racism and hate in the state, these college towns are islands of knowledge, hope and sanity. Maybe the crazy red general population is driving the sane intelligent blue individuals of these states to these colleges as a place of refuge.

[Anonymous]

What’s wrong with that? Other than MIT (private), Georgetown (private), and Purdue (public in a red state), many Southern schools are going back to requiring SAT/ACT. Lead by Florida. They are emphasizing meritocracy rather than DEI BS. On the other hand, UC has made standardized test irrelevant (not just test optional). It will take a while, as sea change doesn’t happen overnight, but in the future schools in red states will dominate over blue states in STEM. Science doesn’t care about the color of your skin, whether you are straight or LGBTQ, or whether your parents are rich or poor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very interesting

See: WI, NC, GA, FL, TX, VA, MI

Inevitably these college towns are overwhelmingly blue. Very interesting.

It is like in a sea of ignorance, racism and hate in the state, these college towns are islands of knowledge, hope and sanity. Maybe the crazy red general population is driving the sane intelligent blue individuals of these states to these colleges as a place of refuge.

It’s because young people are liberal. It’s not that complicated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s wrong with that? Other than MIT (private), Georgetown (private), and Purdue (public in a red state), the only schools going back to requiring SAT/ACT are almost all in the South. Lead by Florida. They are emphasizing meritocracy rather than DEI BS. On the other hand, UC has made standardized test irrelevant (not just test optional). It will take a while, as sea change doesn’t happen overnight, but in the future schools in red states will dominate over blue states in STEM. Science doesn’t care about the color of your skin, whether you are straight or LGBTQ, or whether your parents are rich or poor.

A slight revision of the second sentence above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very interesting

See: WI, NC, GA, FL, TX, VA, MI

Inevitably these college towns are overwhelmingly blue. Very interesting.

It is like in a sea of ignorance, racism and hate in the state, these college towns are islands of knowledge, hope and sanity. Maybe the crazy red general population is driving the sane intelligent blue individuals of these states to these colleges as a place of refuge.

It’s because young people are liberal. It’s not that complicated.

And professors too

[Anonymous]

Purdue froze tuition for a decade & has bachelor’s degree options that are explicitly 3 years long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s wrong with that? Other than MIT (private), Georgetown (private), and Purdue (public in a red state), many Southern schools are going back to requiring SAT/ACT. Lead by Florida. They are emphasizing meritocracy rather than DEI BS. On the other hand, UC has made standardized test irrelevant (not just test optional). It will take a while, as sea change doesn’t happen overnight, but in the future schools in red states will dominate over blue states in STEM. Science doesn’t care about the color of your skin, whether you are straight or LGBTQ, or whether your parents are rich or poor.

By take a while...meaning like hundreds of years (or maybe never)? Leading in STEM has little to do with who attends the university vs. where the research is happening and the research $$$s are going. Florida certainly isn't doing much to attract the best and brightest professors...and I doubt the Moms for Liberty or similar crowds has any interest or understanding of STEM fields.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Purdue froze tuition for a decade & has bachelor’s degree options that are explicitly 3 years long.

Thanks to Purdue’s former President Mitch Daniels. He had been the governor of Indiana before that. He knows fiscal discipline. The current president, Mung Chiang, was the chief science and tech advisor to Mike Pompeo. Indiana is a deep red state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s wrong with that? Other than MIT (private), Georgetown (private), and Purdue (public in a red state), many Southern schools are going back to requiring SAT/ACT. Lead by Florida. They are emphasizing meritocracy rather than DEI BS. On the other hand, UC has made standardized test irrelevant (not just test optional). It will take a while, as sea change doesn’t happen overnight, but in the future schools in red states will dominate over blue states in STEM. Science doesn’t care about the color of your skin, whether you are straight or LGBTQ, or whether your parents are rich or poor.

By take a while...meaning like hundreds of years (or maybe never)? Leading in STEM has little to do with who attends the university vs. where the research is happening and the research $$$s are going. Florida certainly isn't doing much to attract the best and brightest professors...and I doubt the Moms for Liberty or similar crowds has any interest or understanding of STEM fields.

The future IS about STEM. You think history majors and LBGTQ majors can do anything to make our lives better and also defeat China in arms race?