Almost 90% of College Students Fake Progressive Beliefs.

Almost 90% of College Students Fake Progressive Beliefs.

Nearly 9 in 10 college students have pretended to be more progressive than they really are, according to a new survey.

Northwestern University researchers Forest Romm and Kevin Waldman, between 2023 and 2025, conducted 1,452 confidential interviews with undergraduates at Northwestern University and the University of Michigan.

Publicly, they conform; privately, they question — often in isolation. This split between outer presentation and inner conviction not only fragments identity but arrests its development. 

This dissonance shows up everywhere. Seventy-eight percent of students told us they self-censor on their beliefs surrounding gender identity; 72 percent on politics; 68 percent on family values. More than 80 percent said they had submitted classwork that misrepresented their views in order to align with professors. For many, this has become second nature — an instinct for academic and professional self-preservation.

Students know something is wrong. When given permission to speak freely, many described the experience of participating in our survey not as liberating, but as clarifying. They weren’t escaping responsibility — they were reclaiming it. For students trained to perform, the act of telling the truth felt radical.