How do we know which are the best colleges? Traditional ratings rank schools based on the average GPA or test scores of entering students. But the ability to attract bright students does not mean those colleges provide a quality education once they enroll.
That’s why The Heritage Foundation partnered with The College Pulse, a research and analytics company specializing in college students, to survey students across the country—seeking to find out what current students and graduates of postsecondary institutions think about life outside of school, including starting a family, practicing religious faith, acting with integrity, protecting free speech, and other measures of civic life.
The survey used data from Heritage’s 2025 edition of “Choosing College with Confidence,” a guide to nearly 1,000 colleges. This year’s guide covers three times the number of schools as last year’s report, including some of the largest colleges in the U.S.
Choosing College with Confidence rates each college on our list as rigorous institutions offering a well-rounded education (a “green” rating); somewhat rigorous institutions with individual colleges focused on civics or other academically challenging departments within a university (“yellow”); or institutions that suppress diverse viewpoints and lack a strong academic core (“red”). Sure enough, the current and former students at schools rated highly in the Heritage guide display stronger character as well as employment prospects.
The College Pulse surveyed 7,349 individuals across our green, yellow, and red schools, including more than 2,900 college alumni and 4,300 current students. This survey method offered insight into the kinds of people graduating from these institutions.
Read the survey results here: https://report.heritage.org/bg3929
Among Heritage’s green schools—schools where officials prioritize free speech on campus, dedicate their college to a virtuous mission statement, and are disentangling their schools from diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucracies—a higher percentage of students and graduates said they have lasting friendships, are interested in starting families, feel a sense of purpose for their lives, and more, than did respondents from yellow and red schools.
Students attending the green colleges in our guide were more likely to say they were comfortable expressing disagreement with their professors (46%) than were students in yellow (40.5%) or red schools (36.1%).
Students at our green schools were also more likely to report that their administration protects free speech on campus (50.8% for green schools compared to 36.6% in yellow and 34% in red).
Our survey also asked unique questions to gain a sense of personal integrity. We found that students attending green schools were more likely to say they would return money accidentally deposited in their bank accounts—and were more likely to report having friends who say they would return the money—than were respondents in yellow and red schools.
Students and alumni from our green schools also reported better levels of physical health, were happier, and, were more confident that they would land a job after college than were students in yellow and red schools.
A few newer college guides focus on the employment and earnings of each college’s graduates. While that is important, a quality education is about more than getting a good job. Education is, in essence, the development of good character, which includes a commitment to family, community, country and the pursuit of truth.
People change as they grow and mature through different life experiences. Still, this survey demonstrates that students who attend universities that make the pursuit of truth a priority end up with values that reflect the American dream.
These results help confirm the very purpose behind Choosing College with Confidence—evaluating schools based on how institutions shape their students’ character. Heritage’s guide rates colleges on the full spectrum of educational goals.
Our guide offers a glimpse into the culture of each campus on our list and the intellectual life fostered by the faculty and universities policies.
Even if not all respondents fully live out these beliefs, they’re still well on their way to creating civic communities and authentically engaging in civic activities via their high standards for conduct. It’s that sort of behavior that forms the basis for healthy communities—and, in turn, healthy cities, states, and nations.
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