UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State student voting increased significantly in last year’s presidential election, rising to 69% in 2020 from a rate of 56% in 2016, according to a recent report on student voting nationwide. The full Penn State report can be viewed online.
The report shows Penn State student registration rates rose to 84%, a 5% increase from 2016, and of those registered students, 82% voted, an increase of 11% from 2016. In addition, the report showed that most Penn State students chose not to vote in-person in 2020 — 57%, compared with 30% in 2016.
This report comes from the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE), creators of the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement, or NSLVE. IDHE is located at Tufts University’s Tisch College of Civic Life.
Due to the high student-voter participation rates, Penn State was awarded a Silver Seal from the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, which is awarded to institutions with a student voter participation rate of 60-69%. The University received the award during the ALL IN Challenge third biennial awards ceremony to recognize select higher education institutions, educators and students for their extraordinary work in student voter engagement during the 2020 presidential election.
More than 840 institutions enrolling close to nine million students participate in the ALL IN Challenge. Penn State has participated in the Challenge since its inception in 2016. Penn State received a Bronze Seal for the 2016 presidential election and a Silver Seal for the 2018 midterm election.
Penn State increased its efforts to assist students in registering to vote and understanding the process of voting during the pandemic. The Center for Character, Conscience, and Public Purpose, a unit of Penn State Student Affairs, led the efforts but worked closely with faculty, staff and students around the University.
The Center for Character, Conscience, and Public Purpose maintains a student voter information website at psuvotes.psu.edu where students can find information on how to register and vote, where to vote, and how to make an informed decision.
"COVID presented significant challenges and changes for the fall 2020 election. As a result, we sent multiple emails to the Penn State community on how and when to register to vote and submit mail-in ballots,” said Tim Balliet, center director. “At University Park, we partnered with the Centre County Elections Office to host a remote elections office at the Bryce Jordan Center and ballot drop-off box at the HUB-Robeson Center. We made multiple presentations to University leadership, student groups, and classes, including a University-wide town hall with University administrators, staff and student presenters. It was a true collaboration among students, faculty, staff and administrators to increase participation."
Nationwide, the study’s authors reported a record-breaking set of findings. On campuses across the country, students built on the momentum swing of 2018 and voted at high rates in the 2020 election, with voter turnout jumping to 66% in last year’s presidential election. The 14-percentage point increase, from 52% percent turnout in the 2016 election, outpaces that of all Americans, which jumped 6 percentage points from 61% to 67%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“That students, often younger and first-time voters, turned out at rates commensurate with the general public is nothing short of stunning,” said IDHE Director Nancy Thomas. “We attribute this high level of participation to many factors, including student activism on issues such as racial injustice, global climate change and voter suppression, as well as increased efforts by educators to reach students and connect them to the issues and to voting resources.”
IDHE’s National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement is the nation’s largest study of college and university student voting. Institutions must opt-in to the study, and at this time, nearly 1,200 campuses of all types — community colleges, research universities, minority-serving and women’s colleges, state universities, and private institutions — participate. The dataset reflects all 50 states and the District of Columbia and includes 49 of the nation’s 50 flagship schools. IDHE uses de-identified student records to ensure student privacy. The 2020 dataset is robust with 8,880,700 voting-eligible students representing 1,051 colleges and universities.
About the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge
The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge is a national, nonpartisan initiative of Civic Nation, a 501(c)(3) organization. ALL IN strives for a more inclusive democracy — one in which all voices are heard — and believes that higher education plays a role in graduating students into voters and in closing electoral participation gaps that persist by race and age. Through an intentionally designed program — which provides structure, support and recognition — ALL IN aims to strengthen college and university efforts to improve civic learning, political engagement, and voter participation. Helping to ensure that students are registered to vote and participate in all elections is a key component of its work.