How can data inform campuses about motivators and barriers to student voting?

Sign up for CVP's Research Collective Meeting to learn more!

Whether your campus is already registered for the Student Voting Survey (explained below) or you’re interested in learning more, you can join the first Campus Vote Project Research Collective meeting of 2025 at 2:30pm ET on Monday, March 10 to learn more about how collecting data helps to examine motivators and barriers to student voting. 

You can register for the meeting here

What is the Student Voting Survey?

Developed by the Fair Election Center’s Campus Vote Project (CVP) and distributed by campuses across the nation, the Student Voting Survey (SVS) is designed to investigate college students' voting behaviors in the 2024 general election and how these behaviors vary depending on demographic factors. Distribution of the Student Voting Survey began on January 30, 2025. As it stands, over 900 students have completed the survey across five universities nation-wide with many more in the early stages of the distribution process. There is still time to get involved with the SVS, as we plan to continue collecting data until the end of the academic year. We encourage any institutions interested in better understanding patterns of civic engagement on their campuses to participate.

The primary goal of the study is to analyze how different characteristics such as race, gender, religious identity, first-generation status, and political affiliation influence the way college students participate in the electoral process. Survey questions focus particularly on the reasons that students give for deciding whether or not they voted in the 2025 election. Other questions ask about demographics, party identification, faith in election integrity, and emotional responses related to election season. The data collected through this research will provide campuses with a firmer grasp on why students choose to vote - or not - and shed light on how students think about their right to vote nationally.

At the upcoming CVP Research Collective Meeting on March 10, we will discuss the process of collecting this data, as well as how the information stands to benefit our participating campuses and the civic engagement research space as a whole.

Declare your intent to participate in the Student Voting Survey here.

About the CVP Research Collective

The CVP Research Collective serves as a space for student scholars to learn, collaborate, and receive feedback on research conducted at the intersection of civic engagement and higher education. We hope to better understand the experiences of students, faculty, administrators, elections officials, candidates, and outside organizations as they work to institutionalize civic engagement and political participation at higher education institutions. The CVP Research Collective aims to help undergraduate and graduate students gain valuable skills needed to conduct graduate-level research. Meetings will be held the second Monday of every month at 2:30pm ET. All students, no matter their affiliation with CVP, are invited to join.

To learn more about the CVP Research Collective, sign-up here.