Kansas State University

Voting on K-State campus up in 2018, according to national study

Submitted by Donna Schenck-Hamlin

According to the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, student voting on Kansas State University's campus was up in last year's election, increasing to 36% in 2018 from a rate of 15.7% in 2014. View the full campus PDF report. 

The study, conducted by the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education at Tufts University's Tisch College of Civic Life, shows that nationwide, voting rates at participating college campuses doubled on average compared to the previous 2014 midterm. In 2018, the Average Institutional Voting Rate among campuses in the study was 39.1%, nearly 20 percentage points higher than 2014's average turnout rate of 19.7%. Turnout increases were widespread, with virtually all campuses seeing an increase over 2014.

"As part of our commitment to community engagement, K-State has worked to create engaged citizens, strengthen democratic values and promote civic responsibility," said David Procter, director of the Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy and the Center for Engagement and Community Development. "This national study of student voting demonstrates that our efforts at Kansas State University are paying dividends." 

The report is based on the voting records of more than 10 million students at more than 1,000 colleges and universities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia; the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education does not receive any information that could individually identify students or how they voted. The study provides reports to participating colleges and universities that use them to support political learning and civic engagement, as well as to identify and address gaps in political and civic participation.