College students smashed voting records in the 2020 presidential election, according to a study released Thursday by the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education at Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life.
Sixty-six percent of college students voted in the election, a 14-percentage-point increase from the 2016 election.
White women turned out in higher numbers among race/gender subgroups at 73%, followed by multiracial women (69%), white men (68%) and Black women (66%).
”That students, often younger and first-time voters, turned out at rates commensurate with the general public is nothing short of stunning,” IDHE Director Nancy Thomas said in a statement.
”We attribute this high level of participation to many factors, including student activism on issues such as racial injustice, global climate change, and voter suppression, as well as increased efforts by educators to reach students and connect them to the issues and to voting resources,” she added.
Asian American participation increased by 17 percentage points from 2016 to 2020, according to the study, though overall just 51% of the demographic voted.
The survey found a 17-percentage-point increase among students at private schools.
Researchers examined data from almost 1,200 campuses across the U.S. No margin of error was supplied.
