Some 18% of college students on campuses with large protests reported in a new survey that the political climate interfered with their education, compared with 62% who said it did not.
Dr. Neil Gross
The survey found that twice as many students at schools with large, disruptive protests agreed that the on-campus political climate interfered with their education compared with those at schools with small protests, or no protests — 31% versus 14%, or 13%, respectively.
“Major student protests and demonstrations are often concentrated at more selective colleges and universities, but nationwide less than one out of every 10 college students attends a school with an acceptance rate of 25% or lower, so many students weren’t all that directly affected by last year’s Gaza protests and encampments,” said Gross.
The survey also found that among respondents who reported protests at their school, 52% said they approved of those protests, while 23% disapproved. Moreover, it revealed that 40% disapproved of how administrators at their schools responded to the protests, compared to 26% who approved.
“The broader issue is that colleges and universities weren’t able to get out in front of the political tensions; they were reacting — often poorly — when incidents occurred instead of harnessing disagreement for educational purposes when that was possible. We’ll see how they do this year,” said Gross.
