A new study suggests many are simply trying to fit in with the progressive crowd.

T he longstanding liberal bias on campus is being challenged by the Trump administration like never before — but while a conservative takeover of higher ed is unlikely anytime soon, a silent majority of people who at least are not dyed-in-the-wool progressives may already be taking shape.

A recent Northwestern study found that 88 percent of college students at Northwestern University and the University of Michigan are pretending to be more progressive than they actually are — all in hopes of succeeding either socially or academically.

“These students were not cynical, but adaptive,” Northwestern researchers Forest Romm and Kevin Waldman wrote in The Hill. “In a campus environment where grades, leadership, and peer belonging often hinge on fluency in performative morality, young adults quickly learn to rehearse what is safe.”

But if, as the study indicates, many students do not actually subscribe to a radical liberal worldview, who is creating this reality that Romm and Waldman reference? Out-of-touch school administrators, who have long implemented woke agendas at their institutions, whether it’s requiring students to introduce themselves with their preferred pronouns or posting land acknowledgements on university websites, like at the University of California, Berkeley.

More often than not, Democrats pride themselves on being the party of the “educated.” This survey, however, calls into question the monopoly Democrats truly have on college-educated voters — indeed, recent voting patterns speak to a gradual shift.

Trump voters were noticeably more “young and educated,” according to Tufts University research analyzing 2020 and 2024 election data. For example, former Vice President Kamala Harris only won the youth vote over President Trump by six points. By contrast, Joe Biden won the youth vote by 25 points against Trump in 2020, and Hillary Clinton notched a similar margin of 18 points in 2016.

“Based on historical national election exit poll data (from Edison Research), the last time youth supported the Democratic candidate over the Republican candidate in solely single digits was in the early 2000s,” researchers wrote. “In other words, among young voters, support for a Republican candidate grew significantly.”

Further, Tufts found that 7 percent of youth voters who voted for Biden in 2020 switched their vote for Trump in 2024.

That trend continued with college-educated youth. In 2020, 23 percent of young Trump voters had a college or postgraduate degree; in 2024, 28 percent of young Trump voters had the same credentials.

The shift is slight, but it speaks to the trend found in the Northwestern research. When their secrets are safe, students are willing to stand behind what they believe in, including conservative values and candidates. These institutions that often pride themselves on their progressive policies and free-thinking student bodies are actually stifling independent thought in the name of “social justice.” By forcing woke policies down the throats of students, administrators aren’t prompting a real change of heart, but rather the activation of a survival strategy. Students would rather lie and graduate than share their true beliefs and face the potential backlash.

Of the 88 percent who admitted to concealing their beliefs, 78 percent said they self-censor their beliefs on gender identity, 72 percent on politics, and 68 percent on family values. That’s a lot of people who fib to fit in.

Interestingly, Northwestern’s college paper, The Daily Northwestern, completed its own polling earlier this year and reported that more than 80 percent of students on campus identify as “somewhat or very liberal.” But with the recent survey, it’s unclear how accurate that assessment is. It may be that many of them are indeed liberal — just not as liberal as they present to their peers.

The paper spoke with the president of the Northwestern University College Republicans, Jeanine Yuen, and her experience shed light on students’ reasons for hiding their beliefs. “Everyone that disagrees with Republicans makes it known that they hate Republicans,” Yuen told The Daily.

For many students, their on-campus politics may just be part of their attempt to get through school unscathed. Which raises an important question: If universities understood the actual preferences of their students, would the culture on campus change?