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Much has been made in recent months about the increasingly intensive political activity in which for-profit colleges and their employees have been engaging in the face of the related increasingly intensive federal regulatory and legislative scrutiny buffeting the institutions. That political tradition is matched by two others that a new report reaffirms: the heavy financial contributions by higher education employees to political campaigns, and the overwhelming bias of that giving toward Democratic candidates. The report, by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group, breaks down political giving by college employees leading up to November's 2010 midterm elections, and shows how heavily the donations tilt left. (There are exceptions, with employees at the Universities of Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia giving predominantly, and workers at Calvin College and the College of Lake County giving almost exclusively, to Republicans.) A table below includes the top 10 institutions (and educational groups) in political giving so far this year:
Organization | Total Giving | By Political Action Committee | By Individuals | % to Democrats | % to Republicans |
University of California | $483,981 | $0 | $483,981 | 86% | 14% |
Harvard University | $424,478 | $0 | $424,478 | 77% | 23% |
Stanford University | $375,553 | $0 | $375,553 | 75% | 25% |
Apollo Group | $265,625 | $78,600 | $177,025 | 76% | 24% |
Career College Association | $226,111 | $206,311 | $19,800 | 66% | 34% |
University of Texas | $139,867 | $0 | $139,867 | 83% | 17% |
Columbia University | $126,690 | $0 | $126,690 | 72% | 28% |
Full Sail | $126,070 | $0 | $126,070 | 74% | 24% |
Keiser University | $118,242 | $0 | $118,242 | 51% | 25% |
Princeton Review | $115,000 | $0 | $115,000 | 100% | 0% |