Pennsylvania college students are very down on democracy, new survey shows
A left-leaning group had conversations with 2,800 college students. The responses were grim, but could provide a playbook for how to reach Gen Z.
Gen Z is crashing out on politics and Democrats are staring down a “trust crisis” with a demographic that has historically been essential to the party.
College students in Pennsylvania are overwhelmed by news, and widely distrustful of politicians and institutions whom they do not believe act in their best interests, leading to feelings of powerlessness when it comes to getting politically engaged.
The “big yikes” findings stem from conversations across 16 universities with more than 2,000 college students in Pennsylvania, convened earlier this year by the left-leaning political advocacy group Project 26 Pennsylvania.
Only 2% of students believed elected officials make decisions in their best interests, according to the non-scientific survey. The exercise is being touted as the largest Gen Z “listening project” in a battleground state.
Frustration and apathy with politicians has long been palpable in surveys of young people, but the findings released Monday paint a grim picture as Democrats try to engage a key voting bloc that has increasingly skrrt-ed away.
“Young people told us that they care a lot about the issues that impact them but they don’t really have trust that elected officials think about them when they’re making decisions, or are acting on the things that are impacting their lives,” said Aimee Van Cleave, interim state director for the group.
“What they most want is not empty promises or slogans — they’re not asking to be entertained — what they’re asking for is a tangible improvement in their lives.”
A memo outlining the results noted that the disconnect between those needs and politics as usual has driven disillusionment “leaving them susceptible to the far-right.”
Young voters helped propel President Donald Trump to the White House in 2024, as his share of voters ages 18 to 29 jumped to 46% in 2024 nationally, compared to 36% in 2020.
He won young men outright with 56% support after losing them to former President Joe Biden four years earlier.
The conversations were not part of an official poll, but they provide a roadmap for how the party should think about messaging to Gen Z in Pennsylvania and beyond, researchers say.
The findings by the Democratic 501(c)(4) organization —named after the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 in 1971 — include excerpts from students interviewed, articulating their frustrations and hopes in their own words.
“Whoever gets it right will be the group that spends much less time trying to figure out how to ‘win’ Gen Z,” Van Cleave said. “So much as the group that spends time figuring out how to deliver for Gen Z.”
The conversations took place in two waves, one from February to April and another from April to May across 16 campuses in Pennsylvania totaling 2,802 conversations. Philadelphia-area campuses included Temple, Drexel, and West Chester University.
Excerpts from those interviews have been lightly edited for clarity within this story.
The conversations are not representative of all Gen Z voters in the state, as college students tend to lean more Democratic than Republican in their political beliefs. But the left-leaning sample is a population that, in the past, presented the most opportunity for engagement with the Democratic Party.
Widespread concerns and distrust in political institutions
Students conveyed a deep distrust in public officials, though they reported having a slightly more positive view of their college administrations.
Van Cleave said politicians need to focus less on contrasting their party with the other.
“There’s a lot of talk from both sides about how they’re different from each other and Gen Z cares a lot less about party labels. They care a lot more about whether or not someone is fighting for them.”
Trump administration impact
Since President Donald Trump’s election, Democrats have tried to connect policies to pain points, and the survey offers a more specific look at the areas they might focus on to better resonate with younger generations.
» READ MORE: 'A tide of change': 100 days of Trump in Pennsylvania
Forty percent of participants said Trump’s policies had personally impacted them with education policy (79%) and reproductive rights (41%) the top areas of impact. (Respondents could mention more than one impact area).
Students additionally cited job prospects, federal hiring freezes, immigration visa disruptions, and deportation fears. They also noted issues related to Title IX, which bars sex-based discrimination at educational institutions, and financial aid in their responses about how current policy affects them.
Asked more broadly about their concerns, students cited social polarization (54%), civil rights rollbacks (45%), and international and global affairs (44%) in the conversations where they could name multiple issues.
“Gen Z does not trust that their elected officials or government institutions work for them,” the researchers wrote. “To engage in political life, Gen Z needs to believe their actions could make a difference, but right now, they don’t.”
How to reach college students
Students are deeply concerned about issues confronting the country, not apathetic, which presents an opportunity for engagement, said the researchers who analyzed the data. But they also struggle with feeling that their involvement in politics won’t matter or change anything.
According to the survey, having a measurable impact was a far bigger driver for students to get involved in political action or their community than social aspects, such as whether the event was fun, social or entertaining.
The Democratic Party and affiliated groups are gearing up to spend millions to reach voters in the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential election. The researchers note that in 2024, Democrats touted a record number of doors knocked, but coupled with the wrong message, the party lost.
As the party shifts to reach Gen Z online, it risks a similar fate.
“Instead of spending millions to get messages in front of young people you should start delivering for young people based one what they’ve told you they want to see,” Van Cleave said.
Democratic groups should spend money on programming rooted in “impact as opposed to cynical and ineffective catering to youth movements,” the researchers wrote.
And Van Cleave stressed that continuous conversations appear to work. Project 26 held conversations on campuses in Pennsylvania ahead of the 2024 election. Then they analyzed turnout in those campus precincts compared to other swing state college towns. They found Pennsylvania’s youth voter shift was smaller than in other swing states.
What makes you hopeful?
Ultimately, while the young Pennsylvanians’ outlook on politics was mostly grim, many students shared things that make them feel hopeful about their future.
Among one wave of students, 39% expressed hope, while 20% expressed no hope, and 41% had an ambiguous or a mixed outlook when asked about their future.
Students who said they were hopeful found optimism in social and community connections, more than political institutions. Here are some of their responses.