Taxpayers Fund Political Activism in Higher Education
Public universities are using taxpayer money to fund political activism, not academic research. Here’s how to stop it.
4 min read
Public universities are increasingly using taxpayer funds to support political activism rather than academic research, according to a recent report. This trend has raised concerns about the role of public institutions in advancing human knowledge and educating students. The issue has sparked a debate over the purpose of higher education and the responsibilities of public universities.
The Ideological Imbalance in Higher Education
A recent survey by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) revealed that the ideological balance in academia is far more skewed than many Americans believe. While the public estimates that liberal professors outnumber conservatives by about two to one, the actual ratio is closer to five to one. At elite universities like Yale, the imbalance can be as extreme as 36 to one, with some departments employing virtually no conservatives.
When respondents were shown these benchmark figures, confidence in higher education dropped, especially among Republicans and independents. This shift challenges the usual defense of academia, which often claims that the public overestimates the ideological imbalance. In reality, the public imagines universities are considerably more intellectually diverse than they actually are.
The Problem Goes Beyond Ideological Imbalance
The issue extends beyond the lack of conservatives in sociology departments or Trump voters in political science. Many academics are now engaged in what can be described as bald-faced activism, seeking to change the world in an exclusively leftward direction rather than understanding it. This is particularly evident in the humanities and social sciences, including English, history, and sociology.
A recent report commissioned by Vanderbilt University and Washington University in St. Louis highlighted this trend. The report stated that many professors in the humanities are subordinating scholarly norms to the goal of ‘turning the humanities into vehicles for social justice.’ This includes ‘anti-racism,’ ‘the ‘decolonization’ of the academy and society more generally,’ and ‘the replacement of ‘neoliberal’ capitalism with some form of socialism.’ These goals are not merely academic but are framed as political objectives.
Academic Journals as Platforms for Political Activism
A recent editorial in the academic journal ‘Race and Justice’ exemplifies this activist mindset. Titled ‘Turning It Around: Progressive Strategies for Challenging Right-Wing Populism in the Era of MAGA,’ the article states, ‘Since President Donald Trump got re-elected, it appears that things are getting worse every day,’ and proposes ‘bold, creative strategies to challenge the MAGA agenda and restart the movement toward a sustaining and humane world order.’
The editorial reads less like scholarly work and more like a strategy session for the Left. One author advocates ‘a movement to foster class solidarity through forging a deep understanding of capitalism as the root of oppression.’ Another declares that ‘we’ve already beaten MAGA once on the national electoral front.’ A third writes, ‘The myth of white supremacy is woven into the foundational institutions of the United States,’ adding, ‘The US Constitution … was essentially a contract of racial hierarchy.’
This article did not appear in left-wing outlets like Jacobin, Slate, or The New York Times, but in an academic journal. All five authors work at public universities, including the flagship institutions of West Virginia and South Carolina. Taxpayers in those states subsidize this ‘scholarship.’
The Need for Reform in Public Universities
The problem is not confined to a single journal or discipline. In 2025, The Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research accepted an article detailing its authors’ deliberate attempts to make white students — but not students of any other race — uncomfortable to advance ‘anti-racism.’ One author worked at Colorado State University, another public institution.
The issue is not that professors hold political views. It is that public universities increasingly treat political activism itself as legitimate academic work. Public universities exist to advance human knowledge and educate citizens, not to serve as platforms for political advocacy. Faculty members are paid to teach and perform legitimate academic work, not to conduct ‘research’ at taxpayer expense that is indistinguishable from the work of a political advocacy organization.
Solutions: Returning to the Basics of Higher Education
To fix higher education, especially at public universities, we need to go back to the basics. That’s why the Goldwater Institute, where I work, has released the American Higher Education Restoration Act. It would require professors in non-STEM fields to teach a minimum of three courses per semester, reversing decades of declining teaching expectations. Professors seeking an exemption from that requirement to perform additional taxpayer-funded research would submit their proposed projects for review by fellow academics and other citizens who would determine whether they are likely to generate scholarship of at least nominal public value.
Academic research should have the potential to advance human knowledge, not serve as a cover for partisan efforts to achieve political outcomes. Our universities shouldn’t serve as activist boot camps. The American Higher Education Restoration Act would help return them to their proper purpose: educating students, advancing human knowledge, and serving the entire public.
Source: Daily Wire
