A Resource for Scholars
Each year the Panetta Institute commissions a nationwide survey of college students to gauge their level of interest in politics and civic involvement. The results are made available to scholars and the public, and also help guide and inform our own course offerings and leadership training programs.
Panetta Institute 2012 Survey: U.S. College Students Grow Increasingly Concerned About Future of Country
Despite Improved Perception of the Economy, Only 49% are “Confident” About Their Personal Future; Only 24% are “Confident” in Overall Political Leadership of the United States
A new national survey by the Panetta Institute for Public Policy shows only 24 percent of U.S. college students feeling “confident and secure” about America’s future, a further drop from the gloomy 32 percent recorded a year ago, and students are deeply dissatisfied with the country’s overall political leadership.
Yet 49 percent of students express confidence about their personal future, and an overwhelming majority (67 percent) give President Barack Obama a positive job rating, supporting him for reelection by more than two to one over his presumptive general-election opponent, Mitt Romney.
The Institute’s annual campus survey, conducted from March 27 to April 3, 2012 by Hart Research Associates, shows economic concerns continuing to predominate as students consider the political landscape and their own career prospects.
Economic and Fiscal Issues:
Perceptions of the U.S. economy have brightened only slightly over the past year, with 21 percent of students rating the economy as either excellent or good, compared to 15 percent a year ago.
“While some economic indicators suggest the economy is improving,” notes Institute director Sylvia Panetta, “in the minds of these students the recession is still very much with us, particularly when it comes to job opportunities.”
Fifty-three percent of college freshmen say they feel confident and secure about their personal future, but that number drops to 44 percent among seniors.
Curiously, although confidence in the country’s future has fallen, a related measure in the survey shows a slight improvement. While students are still more inclined to believe the country is “off on the wrong track” (46 percent) than headed in the “right direction” (43 percent), that margin has narrowed since April 2011, when the figures were 50 percent and 37 percent respectively.
When asked whether the federal government should focus more on spending to help the economy recover or reducing the budget deficit, students chose deficit reduction by a 27-point margin (62 percent to 35 percent).
2012 Presidential Campaign:
The survey gives both major political parties reason for worry in this election year. Although President Obama enjoys high personal and job performance ratings on campus and students lean decidedly more Democratic than U.S. adults overall, they are paying less attention to the presidential contest than they were at this time in either 2004 or 2008 and fewer report that they are active or plan to become involved in the campaign.
Meanwhile, the survey shows the hard-fought contest for the presidential nomination has hurt the Republican party among college students. By 50 percent to 9 percent, students say the GOP primaries have made them feel less favorable rather than more favorable toward the party, with even Republican students reporting a net negative impression (29 percent less favorable to 16 percent more favorable).
One reason for the fall-off may be the contrast between the strictly conservative stances taken on social issues by the Republican candidates compared with the more liberal views of students. For example, 67 percent of college students say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, a figure that has risen over the history of this survey, and support for gay marriage on campus stands at 75 percent, with Republican students favoring it by 52 percent to 43 percent.
Also, while the Republican presidential candidates have unanimously denounced the recently enacted health care reform law and called for its repeal, the measure maintains widespread support on campus. Three out of five students (61 percent) say it was a good thing that Congress passed the law, with only 33 percent saying it was a bad thing. This margin is essentially unchanged from 2011, when the Institute’s survey showed support at 59 percent and opposition at 35 percent.
Another metric that would appear to favor Democrats is students’ views on government intervention in the economy. Respondents were asked to choose between two statements: “We need a strong government to handle today’s complex economic problems” or “The free market can handle these problems without government being involved.” Students chose the first statement by a margin of 54 percent to 40 percent.
Likelihood to Serve:
The Panetta Institute conducts its national survey each spring to measure student views on a wide range of issues, along with their level of interest in politics and civic life. The study’s results are shared with the public and also help guide the Institute’s curriculum, which is aimed at preparing students for lives of public service.
Forty percent of students in this survey express interest in working some day for government – down from 47 percent in last year’s study but still well above the 26 percent who noted such an interest when the Institute first asked the question in 2001. The proportion of students interested in running for elective public office remains relatively stable, with men more likely than women to say they would want to run for office.
A substantial portion of students (38 percent) express interest in working for a not-for-profit community organization or foundation, and 38 percent – a record high in the history of this survey – say they have considered pursuing a service-oriented experience such as Teach for America, VISTA or AmeriCorps after they graduate. Interest in military service has remained essentially unchanged over the survey’s history, standing at 9 percent today.
Use of Social Media and Perceptions of Privacy:
As in previous years, students were asked about their media habits. The percentage using the Internet as their primary source of information on politics and civic affairs has zoomed from 25 percent in 2004 to 59 percent today, while the percentage relying chiefly on newspapers has fallen from 26 percent to just 8 percent during the same period. Television is still a relatively strong runner-up to the Internet at 38 percent but it has lost ground in the past two surveys.
With use of social networking web sites and the Internet now near universal among students, about half (49 percent) say they worry about how much information is available about them online. Yet when asked whether it would make a difference for their prospects if a potential employer or graduate school were able to view their online activity, 74 percent say it would not.
Quality of Education:
Students’ anxiety about their job prospects after graduation appears not to have lowered their opinion of the quality of the education they are receiving. Eighty-six percent report that they are either very or fairly satisfied with the preparation they are getting for life after college.
At the same time, with the number of college courses being taught online instead of in person steadily rising, it must be noted that 71 percent of students believe online courses do not offer the same quality of teaching and learning opportunities as in-person classes.
For this year’s Panetta survey, Hart Research interviewed 806 students enrolled at four-year colleges across the nation from March 27 to April 3, 2012, using a mix of telephone interviews and online questionnaires. The margin of error for the total sample is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, with higher margins for specific subgroups.
Click here to read the full report on the survey’s findings.
Past Surveys
(5/7/11)
In our 2011 survey, we found that U.S. college students had turned dramatically more negative in their views of where the country was headed. The students expressed serious concerns about the economy and called for more bipartisan cooperation in Congress. more>>
(5/8/10)
In our 2010 survey, we found that U.S. college students are worried about their job prospects in a still-shaky economy and a majority say they feel “uncertain and concerned” about the country’s future. The student confidence level in finding an acceptable job after graduation was at its lowest level in the ten-year history of the survey. Yet students were much less pessimistic about the country’s direction than they were two years ago, before the start of the financial crisis, and more confident than today’s adults overall. more>>
College Students Much More Optimistic Than Last Year Despite Economic Downturn
(5/13/09)
In our 2009 survey, we found that although U.S. college students knew they face challenges in the deeply troubled economy, they were far happier with the direction of the country and with its political leaders than they were a year ago. Overall a majority of students felt the country was heading in the right direction. Students were hopeful that President Obama would be able to bring real change and 73 percent said they are satisfied with the country’s political leadership overall, the highest in the survey’s history. more>>
College Students Deeply Worried About the Economy and Jobs, Eager for New Leadership (5/1/08)
In our May 2008 survey, we found that although opposition to the war in Iraq remained strong on U.S. campuses, American college students were even more worried about the state of the economy. College students were eager for a change in national leadership and expressed deep disappointment with the nation’s political leadership. Despite declining confidence in the country’s general direction, student interest in the national political scene was on the rise and substantial numbers of students included careers with a public service focus among their preferred career choices. more>>
U.S. College Students See Nation on Wrong Track, Support Iraq Withdrawal (5/5/07)
In our April 2007 survey, we found a growing percentage of U.S. college students believing the nation is headed in the wrong direction, and an overwhelming majority supporting a specific timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq. Students also expressed deep dissatisfaction with the quality of the country’s political leadership and nearly half said they would favor the creation of a new independent political party. more>>
College Students Believe Country Headed in Wrong Direction; Growing Majority Uninterested in Careers in Government (6/17/06)
Our June 2006 survey showed the nation’s college students were unhappy with the current path of the country, but they expressed little interest in becoming involved in government. In a poll conducted by Hart Research Associates for the Panetta Institute, 53% of students said the country was headed in the wrong direction, a jump of 15 points from a similar survey conducted in 2005. 71% said they were not interested in careers in public service. more>>
College Survey Finds Growing Majority Uncertain and Concerned About Country’s Future (6/12/05)
In our 2005 survey, college students expressed a growing anxiety about the future. The Hart Research Associates poll found that 55% of college students were uncertain and concerned about the country’s future, an increase of five percentage points from the previous year’s findings. Students were increasingly concerned about the country’s moral and ethical values and had become focused on national, rather than international, issues. more>>
Poll Shows Big Decline In Student Interest In Politics and Voting (6/9/04)
Both major-party presidential candidates faced big challenges on U.S. college campuses in 2004, according to a Panetta Institute survey. The Hart Research Associates poll found a major decline in students’ perceptions that voting really matters. The number of students who said they volunteer to help in their local communities was down also. more>>
U.S. College Students Question Long-term Impact of Sept. 11th (5/31/02)
By wide margins, U.S. college students in 2002 believed that positive changes in Americans’ behavior in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were mostly temporary, and that poorly performing schools were a greater threat to our country than terrorism. Yet these same students reported much greater interest in the actions of the federal government since the events of 9/11, and they were significantly more focused on international threats to U.S. security. more>>
Survey Of College Students Shows Potential For New Wave Of Activism, But Little Interest In Conventional Politics (05/02/01)
Forty years ago, something began to stir on the nation’s campuses. In March 1961, President John F. Kennedy, sensing the potential idealism of the nation’s youth, signed an executive order creating the Peace Corps, and a few months later, the first cohort of Peace Corps volunteers embarked for Africa. That same year, college students traveled south to join more>>
Though Few Students Vote, Poll Shows Them Still Interested in Issues and Upbeat About the Country (4/25/00)
A nationwide survey of college students conducted for the Panetta Institute in 2000 revealed that although student voter turnout had been low in that year’s presidential primaries (only 17 percent of those eligible), these young people remained interested in the national policy debate and held a more optimistic view of the country’s condition than did other adults. more>>
Institute Poll Shows College Students Turned Off By Politics, Turned On By Other Public Service (1/13/00)
Our 1999 national survey showed that college students had little interest in politics or political careers but nonetheless were remarkably civic-minded and public-spirited. In a study conducted for the Panetta Institute, the Mellman Group found that nearly three-fourths of college students said they had recently done volunteer work for an organization or cause they believed in. more>>