Are you in Europe? The reason is that European culture had a shift in the political left in the 1960s either to protest against their own government or the Vietnam war, as a reaction to the shooting of Martin luther King and other political issues. It started with pacifistic and Liberal movements in which students argued to have a say how the University is structured and what finances are used for and how the subjects are structured hence they are paying to keep the university running. The reason why mostly communists and progressives are doing that are two: 1. Culture is in favor of them, most European countries have a progressive and rather left orientated culture in the cities. 2 . The left has a higher interest in such topics. Conservatives know they don't have much of a chance to fight in that battles so they meet in clubs that are comparable to sororities in the US.
In Germany it's the same, here most public universities are also dominated by socialist groups when it comes to student groups also many professors are politically left.
Because in higher academics, you learn critical thinking, philosophy, and get to peel back the whitewashed veneer of your basic high school education.
Especially in the US, where high school education is woefully full of holes about American and Capitalist history, it's common to have your early years of education completely reframed.
When you learn the truth behind Marxism, economics, politics, business, it's hard to stay conservative.
Science and statistics back up the favourable conditions of progress. But they also actively clash with the Capitalist class that sees benefit in having an uneducated working class.
If the factory worker is too stupid to know they have rights, how could they rebel? They won't even know it's an option.
Keeping your workers uneducated is a great way to stay in power.
It's why there's so many young activisits in universities. Yes, having free time helps, but for many it is the first time they are learning about the truths of the world around them, and they're eager to speak out before they have too much to lose.
I think it's a valid question to also ask "why don't conservatives seek higher education more often"?
I work with a guy who's family members were killed and others hunted by Che. They erase and rewrite history so they can push their agenda. Leftist American politicians hate Cuban survivors because they're a living testament to the horrors of a tyrannical government. Holocaust survivor's testimonies are mitigated by calling any political rivals fascists. Indoctrination is a key element in maintaining power by whitewashing the horrors of tyranny. And because these stupid kids want to hear the promises of the future while they ignore the realities of the past... it's too easy.
All a professor has to say at the beginning of every semester is "you were lied to" and now the kid is a willful pawn. Keep taking your parents money while you learn how they're the real enemy.
The majority of people I interacted with were very financially motivated to become doctors, physician assistants, dentists, pharmacists, veterinarians, chemical engineers, biological engineers, computer scientists, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, computer engineers, statisticians, data scientists, bioscience business development managers, patent agents, patent attorneys, medical science liaisons, etc. People were vary capitalistic with their mind on their money and their money on their mind... Every once in a while you'd run into someone passionate about a specific career path that wasn't high paying, but they were rare and just didn't "love" money. They still were not commies though...
Superb Opinion