In October of 2018, Sam Abrams, a professor at Sarah Lawrence College, wrote an op-ed for the New York Times, asserting that “the ever-growing ranks of administrators have the biggest influence on students and campus life across the country.” The op-ed, headlined “Think Professors Are Liberal? Try School Administrators,” included Abrams’ research on the political affiliation of college administrators.

Teaching faculty across the U.S. are known to have a leftward tilt relative to the general population. Abrams reported that liberal professors outnumber conservative ones by a 6-1 margin. But among administrative staff that ratio skyrockets to 12-1. In New England, Abrams found it to be as high as 25-1. Students themselves, by way of contrast, identify as liberal rather than conservative by a more modest 2-1 ratio. As Abrams put it, “It appears that a fairly liberal student body is being taught by a very liberal professoriate—and socialized by an incredibly liberal group of administrators.”

. . .

Over the last four decades the share of teaching faculty across the U.S. who hold full-time, tenure-track positions has fallen by 50%. Meanwhile, administrative positions drove a 28% increase in the higher-ed workforce between 2000 and 2012. Not unrelatedly, the cost of college has increased 440% over the past quarter-century.

.

— How Oberlin’s Bias and Bloat Fueled a $33 Million Blunder
Real Clear Education | 10 September 2019 | Nathan Harden