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Colleges with the most significant civil rights concerns
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About The VALU Guide
The VALU Guide compares the legal and civil rights environment at America's leading colleges and universities, to assist prospective students in deciding which institution is best aligned with their values. Scores are based upon available data and current state laws and are accurate as of Fall 2026. The VALU Guide will be updated once per year, each fall.
Inquiries may be directed to info@thevaluguide.com.
Our database covers 531 colleges across the USA.
What We Evaluate
How Scores Are Calculated
Each college is evaluated across 10 categories on a 0–100 scale, where higher scores indicate stronger protections, access, and institutional commitment. The Overall Score is a straight average of all 10 category scores, with each category weighted equally.
Scores incorporate state-level policy data (laws, executive actions, judicial rulings) and institution-level factors (campus policies, programs, resources, and incident history). Sources for each category are linked above.
State legislature composition data sourced from ↗ Ballotpedia and ↗ NCSL.
Score Scale
Important Note
VALU is a guidance tool designed to support informed decision-making. Scores reflect publicly available data and should not be considered definitive rankings. Students and families should independently verify current policies.
Resources for Students
About Our Methodology
The VALU Guide evaluates the civil rights environment for students who will physically attend and reside at or near their college campus. Online-only programs are not included, as students in those programs are subject to the laws and policies of their home state rather than the institution's location.
Church-State Separation: Campus incidents of religious harassment or discrimination are scored only from official findings — federal Office for Civil Rights rulings and resolution agreements, state-commissioned reviews, and court decisions. The same standard applies to antisemitism, Islamophobia and bias against any faith. Letter grades and ratings from advocacy groups on any side are not used.
CUNY: The City University of New York’s 11 senior colleges are scored individually. Like every other college in the guide, each campus is scored in all 10 categories, combining New York State policy with that campus’s own programs, resources and incident history.
Created By
Considered Media
A content creation engine committed to the advancement of human rights.