Among the trends present: More interns are participating in paid internships and earning above minimum wage while doing so, and company culture can influence students’ willingness to return for a full-time position.
Over all, college graduates—which, in the exit polls conducted by Edison Research in collaboration with the National Election Pool, means individuals with a bachelor’s or advanced degree—made up 43 percent of the electorate this year.
VanDerziel worries about this, too, saying that “higher ed needs to help students with these life skills and provide services that will set them up for future success.” But he says that graduates are taking job security and well-being, including mental health, into account choosing where to work, according to NACE research.
FAFSA completion rates for incoming first-year students—who were high school seniors during the previous financial aid cycle—still lag about 9 percent behind last year, according to data from the National College Attainment Network.
The findings emphasize that the issues important to young voters in general ring true with many enrolled in higher education, as well as how institution type and demographic factors can influence trends among college students.
Just over 1,000 college students across the United States responded to the Inside Higher Ed and Generation Lab survey, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.
Matthew Mayhew, the William Ray and Marie Adamson Flesher Professor of Educational Administration at Ohio State University, said disciplinary context is very important in interpreting such results.
