2017 Panetta Institute Survey Finds College Students Deeply Dissatisfied with Political Leaders, Yet More Politically Attentive

In its 2017 nationwide survey of college students, The Panetta Institute for Public Policy found a dramatic decline in satisfaction with America’s political leaders, and yet a significant increase in students’ belief that political decisions are relevant to their lives. Satisfaction with “the quality of the country’s political leadership” has plummeted from 48 percent in the Institute’s survey in April of last year to 29 percent today, while the perceived relevance of politics to students has risen from 59 percent to 69 percent.