Peter M. Davidson
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Editor's Note: The Intercollegiate Studies Institute has released the best guide for picking a college. It's called "Choosing the Right College: The Whole Truth about America's Top Schools" -- Get your copy with our FREE offer -- Click Here Now.

After 12 years of painstaking work homeschooling her children, Marta Burgess had no intention of turning them over to just any college. She had confidence in her children, but she didn't want them to face professors who might actively deconstruct their value systems.

"Professors are more skilled than students," she explains. "A professor with an agenda can handle even a well-grounded student most of the time."

On the recommendation of relatives, the Burgesses took their daughter, Regina, to visit Hillsdale College in rural Hillsdale, Mich. They also attended classes with her so that they could better appreciate the college's approach to education. Regina selected Hillsdale, and Mrs. Burgess obviously liked the education that Regina received because she enrolled her second daughter at Hillsdale as well; daughter No. 3 plans to attend next year.

Her husband is Lt. General Ronald Burgess, who is stationed at Fort Myer, Va., and serves in the National Intelligence Directorate. Lt. General Burgess has become president of Hillsdale's advisory board of parents. You might say Hillsdale and the Burgess family are on the same page when it comes to what constitutes a sound college education.

"I was comfortable that this was a place where my daughter would not get her brain fried or twisted," Mrs. Burgess says. "I had a notion of Hillsdale as a place where the education would be traditional."

Many parents share Mrs. Burgess' desire to send their children to institutions of higher learning where they won't have to cross swords with the Ward Churchills of the world. "What's the point of students being on guard and expecting to hear what isn't true?" she asks.

Since the 1960s, many American universities have moved away from rigorous curricula that produced well-rounded, educated men and women. Radical professors and administrators abolished required courses. They destroyed traditional programs and let loose a wave of political correctness that watered down the essence of a college education.

But that didn't happen everywhere.

Here is our list of the 10 best colleges for those with a more traditional bent. It's based on the much-lauded "Choosing the Right College: The Whole Truth About America's Top Schools," which has been published annually since 1998 by ISI Books, a division of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute of Wilmington, Del.

Said William J. Bennett, "No other guide evaluated the adequacy of institutions' core curricula for the provision of a liberal arts education worthy of the name; no other guide concerned itself with the level of political correctness on campus."

With that in mind, we have delved into "Choosing the Right College" to find the best schools for conservatives ¯ campuses where a core curriculum requires a rigorous exposure to the great thinkers who have shaped our political, religious and cultural heritage, and where the atmosphere for learning is nurtured by genuine intellectual freedom, tolerance and tradition.

1. University of Chicago - With its reputation for academic excellence, the University of Chicago has long been one of America's foremost universities. We're ranking it first because of its emphasis on its core curriculum, which it calls the "Common Core," its rigorous academic standards and its diverse political atmosphere.

Chicago's "Common Core" was designed in the 1930s. Undergraduates spend their first two years taking broad general courses in the humanities, physical sciences, biological sciences and social sciences.

"It's the best school for students who want to spend four years reading serious books and talking to serious people," says John Zmirak, senior editor of "Choosing the Right College." That's because Chicago students are very serious about their studies. "Academics come first ¯ and second, and third," the guide notes.

The political climate at Chicago is diverse and remarkably tolerant, with the op-ed pages of the main student newspaper, the Maroon, open to all points of view. Conservative professors can be found in many departments, and political considerations play less of a role in deciding who gets tenure and who doesn't.

2. Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan - Hillsdale's motto proclaims that it is "educating for liberty," and its history proves that motto. It was founded in 1844 on principles of nondiscrimination against blacks and women. During World War I, it defied an order from the federal government to racially segregate its Army ROTC unit. Since 1985, Hillsdale has refused federal funding and federally funded loans for its students.

This conservative hotbed offers excellent teachers and a great curriculum. It spawns many of the conservative activists and scholars who wind up on the Beltway thanks to a core curriculum that stresses a "commitment to the Western heritage and to a rigorous liberal arts education."

3. Christendom College, Front Royal, Virginia - This solidly Catholic, profoundly thoughtful liberal arts college was founded in 1977 by laymen who were troubled by the abandonment of classical liberal arts education. The core curriculum goes beyond what many liberal arts colleges require, with six semesters of philosophy in order "to assist the student in using reason to understand the nature of reality and to illumine further the truth of revelation."

Christendom College is highly re­commended for students who are serious about their Catholic faith. Daily mass is an integral, but not mandatory, part of college life. Most faculty members and students would be considered conservative, but there is no lockstep conformity at Christendom. The college, however, does enforce a dress code.

4. Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois - The leading Evangelical school in the United States, Wheaton College is a solid bastion of reflective Christian formation and excellent scholarship. Students take courses in each of four learning clusters: faith and reason, society, nature, and literature and the arts. As a result, students graduate with a foundation in the fundamentals of Western culture and history.

Wheaton is no hotbed of political activity, but with an active College Republican club but no College Democrats on campus, the atmosphere is definitely conservative.

5. Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, California - Located at the edge of the Los Padres National forest, this Catholic liberal arts college "is the perfect escape from the outside word ¯ ideal for undertaking the gravitas of Thomas Aquinas," say the editors of "Choosing the Right College."

"It's like being on an intellectual retreat," says one student. There are no majors; students graduate with a bachelor's degree in liberal arts. They study the Great Books, a rigorous curriculum that consists of the writings of some of the greatest thinkers ever. The 146 credit hours required for graduation must include mathematics, philosophy, foreign language, theology, science and music, as well as a senior thesis and seminars on St. Thomas. Many of the 330 men and women who are enrolled are passionate anti-abortion activists, but most students are apolitical.

6. Baylor University, Waco, Texas - This Baptist school, with a solid teaching tradition and a newly beefed-up faculty, is a place where conservative students can get a solid liberal arts education. It has one of the best core curricula of any school. Students are required to follow a structured curriculum and to demonstrate a proficiency in a foreign language. General education requirements make up more than half of a student's course load.

College Democrats and Republicans coexist on the Baylor campus, along with a flourishing chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas, a popular political group that has chapters on campuses throughout the state.

7. Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. - Chartered by Pope Leo XIII in 1887, CUA is the foremost Catholic university in the United States, with first-rate minds, excellent resources, a sincere student body and a sense of mission. Students are required to take courses to satisfy requirements in literature, foreign language, math, the natural sciences, and the social and behavioral sciences.

Politics at CUA definitely lean to the right. The College Republicans have hosted, among others, Oliver North, Robert Novak, Ed Meese and Ben Stein. Former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie is an alumnus, and former Attorney General John Ashcroft delivered the commencement address in 2002.

8. Grove City College, Grove City, Pennsylvania - Like Hillsdale College, Grove City refuses to accept federal funds and federally funded student loans. Founded in 1876, this excellent, small liberal arts school is loosely affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Its mission statement declares that the school "seeks to provide liberal and professional education of the highest quality that is within the reach of families with modest means who desire a college that will strengthen their children's spiritual and moral character."

With dedicated teachers, Grove City focuses on undergraduate education, low tuition and small classes ¯ "an overall excellent choice, particularly for Evangelical students," says Zmirak. Students are required to take six courses in the humanities, two in social sciences/international studies, two in quantitative/logical reasoning and two in natural sciences, as well as four semesters of foreign language, which may be satisfied by demonstrating a proficiency in a foreign language.

Most students are apolitical. "Political conflicts at Grove City tend to reflect differences among conservatives, rather than between conservatives and liberals," observes "Choosing the Right College."

9. University of Dallas, Irving, Texas - Founded in 1956 by the Sisters of St. Mary of Namur, UD is full of devoted scholars who are dedicated to teaching. Known for its focus on a rigorous core curriculum ¯ it was the first university to be accredited by the American Academy for Liberal Education, a group that recognizes schools having solid core curricula ¯ UD attracts a serious student body. Many courses use the Great Books, and the university offers a Rome program that immerses students in the culture and faith of that city.

"With high moral and intellectual expectations placed on the students through the core curriculum, one does not find the kind of politically charged ‘activism' found at many other universities," observe the editors of "Choosing the Right College." About 70 percent of the students are Catholic, and students and faculty say that non-Catholics are welcome and feel comfortable at the school, which does not emphasize piety. One faculty member says that Dallas attracts "students who are serious about Western tradition but not necessarily serious about Catholicism."

10. Washington and Lee, Lexington, Virginia - W&L is a small, teaching-centered liberal arts college that maintains a strong link with its Southern heritage and traditions. One-time college president Robert E. Lee, now buried in the school's chapel, helped craft W&L's honor code and its genteel customs of civility. Teachers are said to be dedicated, students gracious, and most subjects still taught the way they were 30 years ago ¯ which is good news indeed. What's more, trendy majors such as media studies and gender studies aren't offered.

W&L doesn't have a true core curriculum; required courses take up more than one-third of the credits needed for graduation. Among them are English composition and literature, foreign language, fine arts, history and religion, as well as three courses in science and mathematics. In addition, students are required to take five terms of physical education and pass a swimming proficiency test.

W&L's students have earned a reputation for conservatism ¯ conservative-leaning groups predominate on campus ¯ and most students identify themselves as Republican. "It's a conservative's heaven," says one student, "but liberals still feel comfortable." There is a small but active gay and lesbian group on campus, but that's just about the only organization that could be deemed radical.

Editor's Note: The Intercollegiate Studies Institute has released the best guide for picking a college. It's called "Choosing the Right College: The Whole Truth about America's Top Schools" -- Get your copy with our FREE offer -- Click Here Now.