Politics, Policies, and Student Perspectives - the Impact of State Social Policies on College Choice
Survey
Mar. 2023
Sample Size:
1,865
Demographics:
High school students
Topics:
Admissions And Enrollment
Partisan Divide
State-Level
Top Findings:
- 1 in 4 students ruled out institutions solely due to the politics, policies, or legal situation in the state where the school was located. This behavior was statistically true across liberals, moderates, and conservatives.
- Students identifying as LGBTQ+ reported rejecting institutions on such grounds at substantially higher rates (32 percent) than those who identified as straight (21 percent). Those who are non-First Gen were somewhat more likely to do so (26 percent) than First Gen students (19 percent).
- The four states most likely to be marked off student lists were Alabama (38 percent), Texas (29 percent), Louisiana (21 percent), and Florida (21 percent). Liberal students more often mentioned excluding schools from the South and Midwest, whereas conservative students were more likely to exclude schools from California and New York.