College makes students more liberal?

During their first three years of college, students tend to become more caring, more interested in spirituality, and more politically liberal, according to a new study.

The findings are part of the national "Spirituality in Higher Education" project conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles. Researchers surveyed 112,000 students from 236 colleges in the fall of 2004 and then followed up with nearly 15,000 from that same group last spring. . . .

Students also appear to become more liberal during their first three years of college. While 28.6 percent of freshmen identified themselves as "liberal/far left," that proportion rose to 34.3 percent among juniors.

Some survey results can be seen below. These results make the changes seem even worse than the small change in those who classify themselves as liberal or conservative.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2004 . . . . . .2007
Political orientation: Liberal/far left . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.6% . . . . . 34.3%
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conservative/far right . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.6% . . . . . 25.1%
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Middle-of-the-road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44.7% .. . . . . 40.6%

Agree that:

Wealthy people should pay a larger share of taxes
than they do now 57.3% 60.2%

Same-sex couples should have the right to legal marital status 53.8% 66.1%
Abortion should be legal 51.9% 59.7%
Casual sex is okay if people like each other 44.7% 51.5%
The death penalty should be abolished 32.5% 37.1%

Disagree that:

The activities of married women are best confined to the home
and family 81.4% 86.0%
Racial discrimination is no longer a major problem in America 76.1% 85.2%
It is important to have laws prohibiting homosexual
relationships 68.4% 78.6%
Federal military spending should be increased 65.8% 75.2%