2025 College Rankings

Wesleyan University is a picturesque campus and has long been regarded as a leading liberal arts college. In recent years, however, it has been roiled by campus unrest, much of it self-inflicted.

The administration responded poorly to the wave of radical anti-Semitic protests that swept campuses during the 2023–24 academic year. When activists set up an encampment on university grounds, Wesleyan president Michael Roth declined to intervene, even though the demonstration violated school policy. The encampment remained for 20 days, during which administrators negotiated with the protesters and ultimately gave in to their demands. That show of weakness only emboldened activists, who occupied a university building the following semester after the school delayed voting on whether to join the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. Even then, Wesleyan declined to expel the offenders.

The administration has failed in other ways as well, particularly in its embrace of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) ideology. Wesleyan maintains a sizable DEI bureaucracy, with more than four employees per 1,000 undergraduates. Over 71 percent of faculty job postings require a diversity statement. The university filed a brief supporting affirmative action in the Students for Fair Admissions Supreme Court case—an unfortunate signal that it prioritizes diversity over merit in admissions.

There is reason to be skeptical about Wesleyan’s commitment to free speech. Just 43 percent of students told the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) that they believe that the administration is “extremely” or “very” clear that it values free expression. The university employs a bias-response system to monitor and respond to allegedly offensive speech. FIRE assigns Wesleyan a “yellow” speech code rating, indicating that its policies are prone to abuse and may be used to suppress speech.

The faculty is ideologically lopsided. When asked to place their professors on a scale from 1 (“very liberal”) to 7 (“very conservative”), students rated them at an average of 1.9. Nearly all faculty campaign contributions in the 2023–24 election cycle went to liberal or Democratic causes. Few faculty members are affiliated with organizations that promote free inquiry in the classroom.

The student body is similarly imbalanced. There are nearly six liberal students for every conservative. Tolerance for dissenting views is tepid, at best. While no speaker has been de-platformed at Wesleyan in the past five years, many students would not oppose such action: 43 percent say that it is “sometimes” or “always” acceptable to shout down a controversial speaker, and 20 percent say the same of blocking access to an event.

Wesleyan’s curriculum is poor as judged by our metrics. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) gives the school an F in its What Will They Learn? ratings, which assign letter grades based on how many of seven core subjects are required in the core curriculum or general education program. Wesleyan does not require courses in key subjects such as U.S. history and government but also has not force DEI-focused courses into the mandated curriculum.

The school can disappoint graduates economically. It takes an average of 3.1 years to pay back the cost of a Wesleyan education, longer than our benchmark of 2.3 years. Graduates often face early career challenges: median annual earnings ten years after enrollment fall $7,700 short of projections, based on SAT scores and Pell Grant data. Still, the same data show strong academic outcomes. The school’s six-year graduation rate is 93 percent, more than five points higher than expected.