Higher Education

Startling gap between political views of OSU professors, students

December 10, 2024

Ray Carter

Republican professors within humanities departments are few and far between at Oklahoma State University, according to a recent report from The College Fix.

Of 222 OSU professors, officials with the news website were able to identify the political affiliations of 128. Only nine were registered Republicans.

Among nine humanities departments researched, The College Fix could not identify a single Republican professor within four: economics, geography, political science, and sociology.

The gap between the political views of OSU professors and the views of the students they serve may be among the most gaping nationwide.

The 2024 College Free Speech Rankings, a product of College Pulse and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), found that there were 1.4 conservative students for every one liberal student at OSU.

Of the 248 schools ranked in that report, conservative students outnumbered liberal students at just 15 universities.

The number of Republicans serving as professors at OSU is similar to the numbers recorded at the University of Oklahoma in a prior review of registration data for that campus conducted by The College Fix.

The College Fix identified the affiliations of 134 of 209 OU professors across 13 humanities departments. Only nine were registered Republicans. Six of 13 humanities departments at OU had no Republican professors on staff, including the anthropology, English, psychology, philosophy, religion, and African American Studies departments.

The College Fix’s findings align with prior research.

In 2020, a report from the National Association of Scholars found there were nearly nine registered Democrats on faculty for every one Republican at Oklahoma State University.

At the University of Oklahoma, the National Association of Scholars researchers similarly found there were nearly nine registered Democrats for every one Republican on the faculty.

Critics have suggested the strong liberal skew of college faculty is starting to impact enrollment.

A recent analysis by The Chronicle of Higher Education found that between 2012 and 2022 white student enrollment dropped 22 percent across all higher education sectors. 

Critics argue that as college officials have increasingly embraced left-wing politics, they have caused more students to view college with skepticism. With many colleges openly embracing Critical Race Theory and “diversity, equity, and inclusion” practices, which are associated with what critics argue is anti-white racism, white students have become less likely to view a college education as a good investment.

A November 2023 Chronicle of Higher Education survey found only 31 percent of white respondents said colleges did an “excellent” or “very good” job educating students.

[For more stories about higher education in Oklahoma, visit AimHigherOK.com.]