Although the 2024 presidential election is still several months away, it’s shaping up to be a rematch between current president Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump.
Given public discourse that suggests colleges are highly liberal institutions, to find out how college students plan on voting and how their political views have changed in the past year, Intelligent.com surveyed 497 current college students ages 18-22 in January 2024.
Key Findings:
- 80% of college students plan to vote; 27% for Biden, Trump (23%), Third party (17%), Undecided (33%)
- Only 45% of liberal college students and 7% of moderate college students plan to vote for Joe Biden, while Donald Trump has support of 68% of conservatives and 22% of moderates
- Nearly half of liberal students (48%) say they’ve become more progressive in the past year
- 1 in 5 college students say they’ve felt influenced by their campus environment to vote for liberal candidates
- 84% of college students say the 2024 presidential election is consequential to the future of the U.S.
55% of liberal college students won’t vote for Biden
Of respondents who identify as having liberal political leanings, only 45% say they plan on voting for Democrat Joe Biden in 2024.
One in four liberal students (24%) are currently undecided about who they will vote for in November. Thirteen percent plan on voting for a third-party or independent candidate, while 2% say they’re voting for Trump. Four percent don’t plan on voting, and 12% are unsure if they’ll vote.
Biden’s support is also weak among college students who identify as moderate, with only 7% saying they intend to vote for him. Sixteen percent of moderate students plan on voting for Trump, while 21% are voting for a third-party or independent candidate, and 29% are still undecided.
Overall, 80% of college students plan on voting, while 12% are unsure if they’re voting, and 8% don’t plan on voting.
Only 58% of Biden voters ‘excited’ to vote for him, compared to 80% of Trump voters
There’s also a gap in enthusiasm for their preferred candidate among Biden and Trump college-age voters.
Fifty-eight percent of Biden voters say they’re ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ excited to vote for him in 2024. By comparison, 80% of college-age Trump voters are excited to vote for their chosen candidate. More than twice as many Biden voters as Trump voters say they’re not excited to vote for their intended candidate (41% vs. 15%).
The survey also shows that Biden’s support among college students has slipped from 2020. Fifty-eight percent of all students who voted for Biden in 2020 plan to vote for him in 2024. Twenty-seven percent are currently undecided, 13% plan to vote for a third-party or independent candidate, and 2% plan to vote for Trump.
Meanwhile, 87% of students who voted for Trump in 2020 plan to vote for him again, while 9% are undecided, and 4% plan to vote for a third-party or independent candidate.
Nearly half of liberal students became more progressive in past year
Evolving political views may offer insight into why Biden’s lost support of college students.
Fourteen percent of liberal students say they became much more progressive in the past year, while 34% have become a little more progressive.
One-third of moderate students (33%) became more progressive, while 24% say they became more conservative. Nearly half of conservative students (48%) became more conservative, while 17% became more liberal.
1 in 3 students say campus environment has influenced voting plans
Students who’ve experienced a change in political views are more likely to say that their campus environment and professors have influenced the way they vote.
Seventy-two percent of students who say their political views haven’t changed in the past year say they haven’t felt influenced by their campus to vote a particular way, compared to 56% of students who’ve gotten more progressive or more conservative.
Among students who’ve gotten more progressive, 30% say they’ve felt influenced by their campus environment to vote for liberal candidates, while 9% feel influenced to vote for conservative candidates.
Twenty-four percent of students who’ve grown more conservative say they also feel influenced by their campus environment to vote more liberally, while 16% say their campus environment has influenced them to vote more conservatively.
One in four students who’ve grown more progressive feel influenced by faculty to vote more liberally, as do 15% of students who’ve become more conservative.
84% of college students say 2024 election is consequential to the future of the U.S.
Despite the differences in their political views and preferred candidates, 51% of college students say the 2024 presidential election is ‘very’ consequential to the future of the U.S., while 33% say it’s ‘somewhat’ consequential. Among students who don’t plan on voting in November, 71% believe this election is very or somewhat consequential to the future of the country.
Thirty-five percent of students who believe the upcoming election is consequential to the future of the country are still undecided regarding who they will vote for. Twenty-seven percent plan to vote for Biden, 21% intend to vote for Trump, and 17% plan to vote independent or third-party.
These students are nearly equally concerned with the prospect of Biden or Trump being re-elected. Seventy-seven percent are very or somewhat concerned about Trump being re-elected, and 73% are concerned about Biden being re-elected.
Three-fourths of intended Biden voters are concerned about a possible Trump re-election, while 70% of intended Trump voters are concerned about a possible Biden re-election.
Methodology
This survey was commissioned by Intelligent.com and conducted online by the survey platform Pollfish on January 19-26, 2024. In total, 497 respondents completed the full survey. To qualify for the survey all participants had to be current 4-year college students between the ages of 18-22. To avoid bias Pollfish employs Random Device Engagement (RDE) to ensure both random and organic surveying. Press may contact [email protected].