Four of the 5 most liberal colleges in the U.S. located in the Bay Area, study says

GALLERY: The most liberal colleges in the U.S., according to Niche

1. University of California, Santa Cruz Acceptance rate: 58% Tuition: $14,020 (in-state), $42,034 (out-of-state) SAT range: 1060-1290 GALLERY: The most liberal colleges in the U.S., according to Niche

1. University of California, Santa Cruz Acceptance rate: 58% Tuition: $14,020 (in-state), $42,034 (out-of-state) SAT range: 1060-1290 Photo: Mitch Diamond / Getty Images Photo: Mitch Diamond / Getty Images Image 1 of / 33 Caption Close Four of the 5 most liberal colleges in the U.S. located in the Bay Area, study says 1 / 33 Back to Gallery

Some of the most politically liberal universities in the country can be found, unsurprisingly, in the Bay Area.

Review site Niche recently ranked the top-25 liberal colleges in the U.S. Four of the top five universities were located in the Bay Area.

UC Santa Cruz grabbed the first spot on the list, followed by San Francisco State University, Columbia College Chicago, Mills College and UC Berkeley. The only other California university to crack the top-25 was UC Santa Barbara.

Niche based the comprehensive ranking on surveys from students at each school, which factored in the political leanings of the survey takers, as well as their impressions of the political leanings of the rest of the student body.

With the exception of UC Berkeley, not a single school in the ranking cracked the top-25 of U.S. News' recently released best national universities report. Berkeley tied with Georgetown and the University of Southern California for 22nd on the US News list.

Most of the universities featured on the Niche ranking are located in cities that most researchers deem liberal. A 2014 Pew study found the top-5 most liberal cities in the country to be San Francisco, Washington D.C., Seattle, Oakland and Boston, which suggests a strong correlation between liberal cities and the colleges therein.

See the top-25 schools on the Niche ranking in the above gallery.







