College-student voting doubled nationwide, according to national study
Potsdam, NY – Clarkson University today reported that student voting on its campus was up in last year’s election, increasing to 19.2% in 2018 from a rate of 9% in 2014. The full campus report can be viewed here.
“Clarkson University’s Student Association partners with TurboVote to provide easy and free voter registration for the campus community. Whether you live in New York or another state, we encourage all students to take advantage of this online resource,” said Kristen Avery, Associate Director of Student Life.
Today’s report is part of the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, or NSLVE, conducted by the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE) at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life. The study shows that nationwide,the voting rates at participating college campuses doubled on average compared to the previous 2014 midterm. In 2018, the Average Institutional Voting Rate (AIVR) among campuses in the study was 39.1 percent, nearly 20 percentage points higher than 2014’s average turnout rate of 19.7 percent. Turnout increases were widespread, with virtually all campuses seeing an increase over 2014.
“This report shows that Clarkson students are civic-minded and engaged in the world around them. We continue to encourage all students to exercise their right to vote and become involved members of the global community,” said President Anthony G. Collins.
Today’s report is based on the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE), conducted by IDHE, which is the only national study of college-student voting. It is based on the voting records of more than 10 million students at more than 1,000 colleges and universities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia; IDHE does not receive any information that could individually identify students or how they voted. The study provides reports to participating colleges and universities, like Clarkson University, which use them to support political learning and civic engagement, as well as to identify and address gaps in political and civic participation.
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Part of Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE) is an applied research center focused on college and university student political learning and engagement in democracy. IDHE researchers study student voting, equity, campus conditions for student political learning, discourse, participation, and agency for underrepresented and marginalized students. IDHE’s signature initiative, the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, or NSLVE, (https://idhe.tufts.edu/nslve) is a service to colleges and universities that provides participating institutions with tailored reports of their students’ voting rates. Launched in 2013 with 250 campuses, the study now serves more than 1,000 institutions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Click here for a shareable link: https://www.clarkson.edu/news/voting-clarkson-university-campus-2018