evidence: While much of the discourse about college voters has focused on campus war protests and reproductive rights, America’s youngest voting block does not rank these as priority issues. If young voters turn out in high numbers on Election Day 2024, they will likely be driven by economic concerns like the cost of rent, food and college tuition. That’s according to the latest analysis from The Brookings Institution, which synthesizes their ongoing research on this critical subgroup of the electorate. [...] Young voters are not a monolith, and not all attend college, but these trends appear to hold true among the subgroup of young voters who are currently in college. A 2024 poll from Young America’s foundation found that economic issues outrank all social issues for college students, across party lines. [...] "This generation of college voters is incredibly diverse so they are motivated by a range of issues. However, economic issues such as inflation, cost of rent/housing, and income inequality rank highly for them in surveys just like for older voters," says Burns. "Students are also very concerned about mass shootings. We hear students wanting to see elected officials take strong action to address these issues."