Thursday Edition: How College Grads See Things

With education levels quickly becoming one of the biggest predictors of people’s votes, we take a look at the differences in how college and non-college Americans see the world. (The Guardian)

Patriotism: 79% of non-college adults say being American is a critical part of their identity, compared to just 43% of college-educated progressive activists.

Community: 24% of non-college Americans report having no close social ties, compared to only 9% of college graduates.

Trust the science: College graduates are generally less religious and more likely to endorse rationalism (for instance, only 26% of college graduates believe in Creationism, compared to 43% of non-college Americans).

• During the pandemic, Americans with college degrees reported significantly higher vaccination rates.

Satisfaction with the status quo: Roughly 55% of four-year college graduates are very satisfied with their jobs, compared to 40% of those without a degree.

• 80% of employed grads are happy with their financial situation, compared to 67% of non-graduates​.

Automation: While 30% of Americans with high school diplomas or less think machines could take their jobs in five years, only 14% of college grads say the same.

Trade: College grads are 16% more likely to say the U.S. benefits from increased trade with other countries.

Who shows up to vote more? Americans with college or postgraduate degrees are more likely to vote than those without higher education.

Bubba’s Two Cents

The world looks a lot different for college-educated Americans and those without degrees in large part because it is a lot different for these two groups:

There’s a startling partisan gap when it comes to perceptions of crime. (Gallup)

A new Gallup survey: Only 29% of Democrats say crime has increased over the last 12 months, down from 58% last year.

• Contrast that with the 90% of Republicans who still say crime is up, nearly unchanged from last year and close to the previous high.

• Overall, 64% of Americans say crime in the U.S. has increased over the past year, a drop of 13 points from the previous year.

The numbers: Per the latest preliminary FBI data, violent crime dropped 10.3% in the first half of 2024, continuing a downward trend from 2023.

Context: As Republicans and Donald Trump claim violent crime is “through the roof,” a partisan debate has broken out over whether the statistics are accurately capturing the reality.

• Meanwhile, the public has shifted toward wanting more tough on crime policies.

Political scientist Charles Murray on why perceptions of crime don’t jive with the data:

Bubba’s Two Cents

Manhattan Institute fellow Charles Fain Lehman has echoed Murray’s belief that perceptions of higher crime are being caused by increasing disorder and lawlessness in U.S. cities.

The numbers: In a new op-ed for The Hill, Hilary Braseth, executive director of the campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets, notes presidential election spending grew from $2.6 billion in 2000 to an inflation-adjusted $7.7 billion in 2020. (The Hill)

• Close to 90% of that growth occurred in just four years: from 2016 to 2020.

Context: More money than ever is filtering into elections, with the 2024 cycle expected to break the record $15.1 billion spent in 2020.

• With Americans increasingly skeptical of corporate power, both Harris and Trump supporters are accusing the opposing side of being owned by corporate dollars.

Braseth:

Bubba’s Two Cents

Here’s an insight on this topic digital strategist Eric Wilson texted me yesterday:

“Think about where we were 20 years ago —

There was no smartphone. No targeted advertising. MySpace was the most popular social media platform because Facebook was only available to select college campuses. Look at the circulation of newspapers.

In 2024, everything has changed. We have to reach more voters on more platforms with more mediums and we’re still not achieving the same level of reach as we did in 2004.

But, but, but - we’re still going to spend more on Halloween this year as a country than we do on our elections.”