The dismal 21.5 percent youth turnout during the 2014 midterm elections had many pundits crowing about apathetic millennials, but presidential elections are a different story for young voters and college students, particularly in the age of Obama. Exit polls put the under-30 cohort of the electorate in 2012 at almost one in five, or 19 percent, which is one point above the rate in 2008 when young people played a decisive role in electing President Obama. For that election college students, who make up more than a third of voters under 24, turned out in droves. Seventy percent were registered to vote in 2008, according to the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), and 87 percent of registered students cast a ballot. College students were also overrepresented at the polls, making up 39 percent of the 18-24-year-old demographic but 48 percent of its voters. Students will again likely play an important role in the upcoming election, but exactly what that will look like remains to be seen. Can Hillary Clinton galvanize students like Obama did seven years ago, or will Bernie Sanders steal her thunder? And which of the 15 different GOP candidates has the most traction on college campuses?

October 16, 2015 ・ From Inside Higher Ed