In recent times, the concern about the political radicalization of the youth, particularly among U.S. college students, has been growing. This trend apparently mirrors the broader rise of populist movements and polarized discourse across Western countries. Universities are frequently presented in the media discourse as incubators for radical ideologies. Still, some authors claim that widespread student radicalization is overdramatized. This study aims to empirically assess the extent of political polarization and populist attitudes among college students, taking as a basis the network of the public university system in Connecticut.

To measure political polarization, we scrutinize the radical partisanship of our target population. We study students' attitudes toward those with opposing political views and their inclination to engage with ideologically challenging content. Participants were surveyed on their comfort levels interacting with individuals of differing political affiliations, as well as their willingness to expose themselves to media contents that contradict their own beliefs.

Populism is assessed based on three key dimensions:
(1) support for popular sovereignty (the belief that the will of the people should dominate political decision-making),
(2) an idealized belief in the inherent goodness of ordinary people, and
(3) anti-elitism (distrust of established political, economic, and intellectual elites). The three-dimensional populism scale has been used as a standard to study the phenomenon since its introduction in 2016.

Our findings provide an accurate portrait of political attitudes among college students, revealing the actual penetration of political polarization, as well as the potential appeal of populism (which dimensions of populism are most prominent and how they intersect with partisan identity), and finally the correlation with party affiliation and ideological standpoint: How populist and polarized attitudes align with party affiliation (Democrat, Republican, independent) and self-reported political leaning (liberal, conservative, moderate).

The goal of this study is to provide a data-driven insight into the current state of student radicalization. Understanding this development is crucial in higher education, since universities play a key role in shaping functional citizenship. Policymakers, educators, and researchers can use these findings to better understand the spread of political dynamics that might have a debilitating effect on democratic processes and to develop strategies that mitigate harmful polarization and populist movements.

Keywords: Political Polarization, Populism, Campus Radicalization, Media Exposure, Media Consumption Habits.