A national student group published elite-college course listings that it says show politics crowding out scholarship, and the examples are hard to ignore.
Story Snapshot
- Young America’s Foundation released a 2026–27 report built from university catalogs.
- The report highlights courses with themes on race, gender, colonialism, and queer theory.
- Examples from Ivy League and top liberal arts colleges feature provocative course titles.
- The group frames the trend as ideological capture; the list is a sample, not full catalogs.
What YAF Published And How They Built It
Young America’s Foundation released its 2026–27 “Comedy & Tragedy Report,” saying it reproduced course titles and descriptions exactly as listed on university websites. The group surveyed catalogs from the Ivy League, major athletic conferences, and top liberal arts colleges. The report argues that higher education has shifted toward political themes. It presents its findings through selected course entries rather than analysis of full catalogs or classroom materials.
Fox News’ coverage, based on the group’s materials, listed examples such as Columbia’s “Religion and Nasty Women,” Princeton’s “Thinking with Bad Bunny: the Cultural Politics of Race, Language, and Empire,” and the University of Pennsylvania’s “Decolonizing French Food.” Stanford’s “Gender in the Wild” and Swarthmore’s “Queering God: Feminist and Queer Theology” also appeared as emblematic items. These titles reflect identity and power themes that critics argue dominate humanities offerings.
What The Report Says And What It Does Not Show
Young America’s Foundation President Scott Walker said colleges are being “hijacked by progressive ideology,” turning them into “institutions of indoctrination.” The report’s core evidence is the course catalog text, not syllabi, lectures, or grading records. The group also notes its entries are a sample, not an exhaustive list of all courses at any school. Those limits matter for claims about scale or about how classes are actually taught.
Past editions used the same method, compiling striking course titles that feature politics, gender, race, and religion. A 2024 edition cited more than 250 courses across over 50 campuses, again drawing from catalogs. Examples included “The Queer Bible,” “Feminism Without Women,” and “Sex Wars.” The recurring pattern supports the idea that these themes appear widely, especially in humanities departments, even if the total share of such courses is not measured.
How This Fits The Larger Campus Debate
The new list lands in a yearslong dispute about whether colleges indoctrinate students or simply study contested issues. Academic groups have long said professors have freedom to discuss their subjects, while also drawing a line against political indoctrination in class. The difference turns on whether courses suppress dissent or demand viewpoint conformity, not just on whether they study identity, power, or religion as topics.
EXCLUSIVE: A new report warns that progressive ideology has hijacked higher education after uncovering provocative courses being offered at elite universities.
Nearly $5,800 for a three-credit class, and students at Princeton can take a course examining Bad Bunny's music,… pic.twitter.com/QeH4Flb7P4
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 28, 2026
Research reviews in political science and education often find weak evidence that faculty ideology alone pushes students to one political side. Studies describe a complex campus environment shaped by peers, family, media, and work, with mixed effects on students’ views. That background does not negate the catalog trend that Young America’s Foundation highlights. It does suggest that proving indoctrination requires classroom evidence, not only bold course titles.
Why It Matters For Families, Taxpayers, And Trust
Parents paying high tuition want balanced teaching and real debate. Taxpayers funding research and student aid want value and viewpoint diversity. When catalogs feature edgy titles without clear context, both sides can doubt whether basic skills and open inquiry still come first. That frustration crosses party lines, feeding a belief that powerful institutions answer to insiders, not to students or the public they serve.
Practical questions now follow. How common are these courses across full catalogs? Are they electives or part of core requirements? Do syllabi present competing arguments and welcome dissent? Clear answers would help families choose and would lower the heat. Until then, the report will fuel calls for transparency, while universities will likely defend academic freedom and faculty choice in designing courses.
Sources:
facebook.com, foxnews.com, yaf.org, us.headtopics.com
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