Panetta 2012 Institute Survey Shows U.S. College Students Growing Increasingly Concerned About the Future of Country

The Panetta Institute’s 2012 survey showed only 24 percent of U.S. college students felt “confident and secure” about America’s future, a further drop from the gloomy 32 percent recorded a year earlier. Students said they were deeply dissatisfied with the country’s overall political leadership.

Yet 49 percent of students expressed confidence about their personal future, and an overwhelming majority (67 percent) gave President Barack Obama a positive job rating, supporting him for re-election by more than two to one over his eventual general-election opponent, Mitt Romney.

The  survey showed economic concerns continuing to predominate as students considered the political landscape and their own career prospects. Fifty-three percent of college freshmen said they felt confident and secure about their personal future, but that number dropped to 44 percent among seniors.