The Impact of Colleges on the Voting and Partisan Patterns of Young People

• In Event: The Impact of (Higher) Education on Political Outcomes (Pre-Recorded)

Abstract

In 2018, approximately 69 percent of the 3.2 million high school graduates in the U.S. immediately enrolled in college. Many of these young adults are enrolled in college at the very same time they first became eligible to vote in an election. This implies that colleges play (or can play) a critical role in increasing the painfully low young adult voter turnout, which is typically around 30-40 percent. In this project, we assemble the largest known individual-level dataset in the U.S. that links secondary and postsecondary educational records of tens of millions of students to national voting records over the last two decades. Using quasi-experimental quantitative methods, the analyses will establish the causal impacts of attending certain types of college (e.g., 2-year versus 4-year; liberal arts versus engineering programs) on whether people vote, in which elections they vote, and whether they affiliate with a particular political party. This will lead to a better understanding of the non-financial impacts and benefits of college choice but also which types of colleges are falling short on producing an engaged citizenry.

Authors

• John Holbein, University of Virginia

• Jonathan C. Smith, Coastal Carolina University