Back-to-school season has begun, bringing a new sense of routine for my household as my spouse continues their undergraduate career at the University of Southern Mississippi here in Hattiesburg. Within online spaces, however, the start of the 2026-2027 school year has brought on discourse about the merits of higher education.
In what feels like a wave of anti-intellectual sentiment that has festered and ballooned over the last decade, a growing sect of people is downplaying the benefits of higher education. They’re belittling those who seek the credentials that colleges provide, devaluing fields that fall under the humanities, demonstrating skepticism or even distrust of experts and facts, and accusing universities of “brainwashing” young people into becoming more liberal.
Each of those topics is worth writing an editorial about, but for the sake of brevity and to prevent myself from becoming so exacerbated that I find myself proverbially yearning for a stiff drink, I will focus on that final point today: the idea that education is indoctrination.
As the Survey Center on American Life reported in 2022, an education disparity has grown between registered Republicans and Democrats since 2010. Nearly one-half of Democrats have four-year degrees, compared to Republicans’ one-third, whereas the two parties used to have a more even split.
Rather than being a sign that college graduates explicitly become more liberal by the time they have earned their degree, the numbers simply indicate that those with progressive-leaning views are currently more likely to enroll at universities in the first place, research shows.
In recent years, some politicians have taken to using rhetoric to radicalize their bases into opposing higher education—going so far as to vilify universities as “woke.” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for example, used his office in 2023 to overhaul the board of trustees at New College of Florida. He personally appointed six new conservative board members, people who held strong opinions against critical-race theory and DEI (or at least against what they believed the terms meant).
Other lawmakers have pandered to these ideas, proposing or instituting policies to shun or squash what they call progressivism at both K-12 and college levels. Administrators at schools themselves have also joined the bandwagon from time to time. In Mississippi, Pearl River Central High School in Carriere told art teacher Catherine Bass in 2022 that sharing her pansexual identity with students was a fireable offense, and the University of Mississippi in Oxford fired Lauren Stokes last year for sharing criticism about a conservative leader.
President Donald Trump himself threatened Harvard University’s federal funding last year over the prestigious school’s refusal to cut programs that benefited minorities, along with other complaints he had about Harvard’s supposedly radical-left policies.
Bursting the Bubble
As a first-generation Mississippian who grew up in a small town before attending a four-year university, I remember what it was like to live in a cultural bubble. I was not very politically aware until I reached voting age, but those around me frequently advocated conservative ideals (though in retrospect I suspect they were parroting what they overheard their parents saying).
Moreover, while I would consider my parents moderate overall, they are registered Republicans. I was, too, when I first turned 18 and registered to vote. It’s what I knew. My Southern Baptist upbringing had instilled the thought into me that “Christians tended to vote Republican.” Now, at 30 years old, I don’t necessarily believe that. I know plenty of Christians who vote for Democrats, including ones who work in higher education, and I definitely understand how many of Jesus’ teachings could sway a believer into adopting progressive values. But like I said, I was in a bubble—until I enrolled at USM and became a Golden Eagle.
Attending this university in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, exposed me to people of different backgrounds. Meeting and befriending people of different ethnicities, nationalities and faiths helped me dispel some of my preconceived notions that, in retrospect, were unfair. As it turns out, people from all demographics can be kind or unkind. The conservatives I grew up beside weren’t morally superior because of their labels. Shocking, I know.
I am blessed to have befriended so many international students, who shared their cultures with me and who gave me grace in moments when I didn’t always understand their ways. Thank you, all, for your patience. You helped me grow.
See, when the people you care about prove that they deserve your respect, it’s hard to stick to the small-minded thinking that they are “the other.” I have long since been opposed to “us vs. them” mindsets, and I no longer had the stomach for such a mentality by the time I was ordering my cap and gown.
‘Brainwashing’ Myths Are Hoaxes
Yes, I admit, the courses I took also led me to become more “progressive” in my values, but not for the reasons that higher-education naysayers project.
No professor sat me down, passed me a printout of liberal views, and had me memorize and recite them in front of the class to earn a good grade.
Philosophy class introduced me to other points of view and taught me the value of seeing a situation from multiple perspectives and coming to my own conclusions. In my oral communication class, I studied the speeches that civil-rights activists delivered at pivotal points during a movement I was aware of but hadn’t felt the weight of until their words struck a new chord. My journalism classes instilled the basics of information literacy so that I could identify credible sources and recognize disinformation when I see it.
I could go on.
These lessons culminated in my evolving into a more empathetic human being who understood that the pains of yesterday still cause harm today. Prejudice is for the birds. (Well, maybe that’s unfair to avians; I’m no ornithologist.) I’m no one’s better just because I’m a straight cis white male. That is an assessment I came to myself, not something that got implanted into my brain the day Dr. Rodney D. Bennett signed my diploma.
So, yes, I graduated with my bachelor’s degrees as a more openly progressive person than I had been going in. But brainwashing was not involved. I simply broadened my worldview, and after reviewing facts and hearing the testimonies of those affected by certain issues, I gradually built a collection of viewpoints that led me to vote the way I do today.
Others have come to these resolutions as well, which is why so many college students organize protests, which may in part be why universities are receiving such targeted attacks.
Nevertheless, breaking out of our small-town bubbles can be a good thing, no matter what the folks of home think. Maybe the college experience does lead to an uptick in progressive values among younger generations, but if it does, the causes aren’t reflected in our syllabi. From my experience, those shifts come from letting go of self-indulgent, self-important ways of thinking and coming to respect and to care for people who may be different from ourselves.
This MFP Voices opinion essay reflects the personal opinion of its author(s). The column does not necessarily represent the views of the Mississippi Free Press, its staff or board members. To submit an opinion for the MFP Voices section, send up to 1,200 words and sources fact-checking the included information to voices@mississippifreepress.org. We welcome a wide variety of viewpoints.
Mississippi Free Press stories are always free because we believe everyone should have access to quality journalism. Donations from readers like you make that possible. Please click here to give to help sustain and grow vital, people-over-power journalism for Mississippians.
Readers can sign up for our free newsletters here.
