Whether Obama or Romney, College Students Set High Bar For Presidential Pick and Election’s Victor | Democracy, elections and voting at Democracy Chronicles

Whether Obama or Romney, College Students Set Tough Agenda for Election’s Victor

OBERLIN, Ohio, Oct. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — No matter which candidate is elected president Nov. 6, college students have definite ideas about what areas the administration should focus on early in its term.

A September 2012 OnCampus Research omnibus survey of approximately 650 college students revealed that they are very concerned about money this election year, which is understandable considering a good portion of their lives has been spent in a recession.

Fully 69.3% of the 648 respondents rated the economy the most important issue in the 2012 presidential election. This was followed by education (67.7%), and healthcare (66.7%). Other financial issues were top-of-mind with students, as student loans ranked fourth on the list, with 50.4% of respondents saying it was an important issue, followed by the national debt (48.4%).

When asked to indicate how well each of a list of statements described them, a large percentage of the respondents indicated concern about the job market and the amount of loan debt they’ll graduate with—again, a direct link to their financial uncertainties.

Other survey findings:

College students are engaged: 77% of those responding said they intend to vote in the 2012 presidential election
While a majority said they planned to vote for Barack Obama, 21.3% were undecided 35.8% said they were “very influenced” in their voting by a candidate’s record

Interestingly, 43.4% said they were “not at all influenced” by Internet/social networking, 46.6% said they weren’t influenced by religious affiliations (either their own or the candidate’s), and 77% said they weren’t influenced by celebrity endorsements.