All schools · Other private

American University

American University's course descriptions average 68.0 on the 100-to-0 ruler: clearly left of center. Across all 100 schools, the average is 67.5, so American University reads 0.5 points further left.

ShowCompared withDepartments

Liberal (100)center (50)Conservative (0)

American University: 68.0 (likely range 65.9 to 70.2) All 100 schools: 67.5 each other school in the comparison

Where its courses fall

6%Far left92–100

30%Left75–91

40%Center-left59–74

9%Center42–58

<1%Center-right26–41

8%Right9–25

7%Far right0–8

179 plotted courses (the ones with a political subject). 100 = far left, 50 = the average American, 0 = far right. Subject places what a course studies, not the side it takes.

See it for yourself

Framing Subject

Subject places what a course studies, not the side it takes. A course on slavery or the Holocaust lands far right and a course on Marx or the Soviet Union lands far left, whether the course praises, criticizes or simply describes it.

Underlined: words the model quoted from the description when we asked it, after scoring, to explain its score.

Furthest-left subjects

AFAM 346 · Rebellion and Revolution in the Caribbean100

Ethnic & African American Studies

The Caribbean has been a crucial site of violent colonial displacement, migration, and coercion of peoples from around the globe. It has also witnessed many collectively organized movements of racialized exploited people to challenge their…

See it for yourself →

HIST 346 · Rebellion and Revolution in the Caribbean100

History

See it for yourself →

SOCY 653 · Intersectionality: Theory and Practice96

Sociology

This course foregrounds the ways gender, race, class, sexuality, and other dimensions of social differentiation organize our experiences in society and together shape social identities, social interactions, and social institutions.…

See it for yourself →

Furthest-right subjects

HIST 317 · Eastern Europe in the Age of Ethnic Cleansing0

History

This course explores the nationalizing successor states that appeared between Berlin and Moscow after World War I shattered the Austro-Hungarian, German, Russian, and Ottoman empires that had previously ruled the region’s…

See it for yourself →

HIST 327 · Europe After Hitler0

History

This course explores the legacies Hitler left for Europe: a broken, divided continent traumatized by apocalyptic devastation, extreme ideological intolerance, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. Emphasis is given to the Nuremberg trials, the…

See it for yourself →

HIST 418 · Nazi Germany0

History

The political, social, and economic conditions that made it possible for Hitler to take power. The nature of Nazi rule. Emphasis on World War II and the Holocaust. Crosslist: HIST-618 . Usually Offered: spring.

See it for yourself →

Why this number, in plain words

Political lean of course descriptions. Average Framing score (0 = far right, 50 = center, 100 = far left) of the scored courses in the group.

50 is the survey-anchored center of US adults on each issue (the "moderate" place of the ANES/GSS/PRRI seven-label ruler), not the cohort midpoint; scores above 50 read leftward, below 50 rightward.

Counted: courses with a Framing score (categories L/R/B/C). The likely range (95% interval) is 65.9 to 70.2; a comparison whose range overlaps this one is not a reliable difference.

Most course descriptions carry no political lean at all and are not in this average; the "share described from the left" view counts them.
Readings are of catalog description text, not of teaching, syllabi or individual professors.

American University by department (share of courses described from the left)

Department	Left-framed share	Courses
Women's & Gender Studies	56%	25	view
Anthropology	26.9%	52	view
Sociology	26.7%	45	view
Ethnic & African American Studies	25%	12	view
Religious Studies	12.5%	24	view
English & Comparative Literature	6.4%	94	view
Political Science	5.2%	153	view
History	5.1%	156	view
Philosophy	3.6%	55	view
Psychology	1.2%	85	view
Economics	1.1%	91	view
Art & Art History	0%	76	view

Lean (mean Framing score) is not published per department within a school; only the left-framed share is. Department rows carry no interval.

Details: exact rows, definitions and method

Name	Metric	Value	95% interval	n	scored
American University	mean_bias_score	68.0	65.9 – 70.2	868	74
All 100 schools	mean_bias_score	67.5	67.4 – 67.7	124,290	10,124

Formula: SUM(bias_score) / COUNT(bias_score)
Interval: normal approximation: mean +/- 1.96 * sd / sqrt(n), sample sd (n-1); undefined when n < 2
Model / prompt / snapshot: gpt-5.6-sol · r12 (2026-10-16-le49-r12) · 6df50b10
Metric caveats: Scored courses only (L/R/B/C); N and I carry no score and are excluded, so n here is smaller than the group's course count. Scores are model readings of catalog description text against a fixed anchored definition, not teaching or syllabi. The interval covers sampling noise in the mean only; it does not represent model reading error. Every value carries a `method` label: exact_rows or histogram_midpoint.

Ask a question about American University · Make a school card