What Issues Do College Students Care About Most?
From social justice to the economy, immigration, and more, see how 1,000+ U.S. college students rank 13 critical issues in 2026, including breakdowns by political affiliation and gender.
The economy – namely cost of living – is the top issue for U.S. college students in 2026 — selected as a concern by 54% and named the single top priority issue by 41%, well ahead of every other issue tested in a 2026 survey of more than 1,000 U.S. college students. Healthcare, jobs, and housing round out the top four issues by overall concern. Social justice, immigration, and climate change rank lower in selection but disproportionately high as a #1 priority, indicating smaller, more intensely committed groups of students behind each.
About the research
Most public discussion of student political priorities is anecdotal — driven by which campus controversy made news that week. Survey data tells a more economically grounded story. In April 2026, Banjo fielded a survey of 1,019 students at two- and four-year U.S. institutions, and asked about 13 issues in two distinct ways: once as an open multi-select ("which of these matter to you personally right now?") and once as a forced single-choice ranking ("what's your #1?"). Comparing the two exposes which issues are broadly on students' minds versus which ones a smaller group cares about intensely.
Read on for the full ranking, sorted by overall selection rate, followed by what the selection-vs-priority gap reveals and why it matters for how campus discourse actually functions.
College students’ top issues: The full ranking
Source: The Discourse Divide, Banjo (n=1,019 U.S. college students, fielded April 2026). Percentages reflect multi-select responses to "which issues are important to you personally right now?" compared against a separate forced-ranking question asking students to name their single top priority.
College Students’ Top Issue: Cost of Living
Cost of living / the economy is the top issue among college students in 2026, and the only issue that was both broadly selected and disproportionately named the #1 priority.
Issues that matter to many, highly important to a select few
Housing affordability, education affordability, healthcare, and free speech all share high selection as issues of importance among college students, but with low #1-priority share, meaning many students flag them, but few call them the single most pressing issue. Education affordability has the widest gap on the list: selected by 40%, named #1 by just 9%.
Free speech follows the pattern of “wide-but-shallow” support (40% selected, 17% named #1), but students had strong views on what it means in practice:
"Free speech ensures that those in power alone don't control progress; it empowers anyone with a vision for a better society to speak up, inspire action, and turn ideas into lasting change."
— 3rd-year Engineering student, New York University
“A healthy culture of free expression would include civil discourse without yelling, shouting or putting the other person down for their beliefs. It would be an environment where people wouldn't be afraid to voice their opinions even when they don't have the opinion of the majority."
— 4th-year Psychology student, Hofstra University
Issues that matter greatly to fewer students
Social justice or equality, immigration, and climate change each has a #1-priority share that's disproportionately high relative to its selection rate — evidence of a smaller, more committed base rather than broad, moderate concern.
National security, for example, despite the lowest overall selection rate (21%), has a relatively high share of those selectors naming it #1 (13%).
Democrats vs. Republicans: Where politically affiliated college students share common ground on issues (or not)
Banjo's survey also captured political affiliation, which makes it possible to break the ranking out by party. Two segments were large enough to analyze directly: Democrats (n = 423) and Republicans (n = 180). Everyone else in the sample identified as Independent, Libertarian, Green, another party, "prefer not to answer," or "don't identify with any political party," each of which was too small to be statistically significant in comparison.
*Percentages reflect students who selected issue as one they care about.
Where Democrat and Republican College Students Disagree on the Issues
The widest partisan gaps are perhaps where you'd expect them to be: climate change (40% Democrat vs. 19% Republican, a 21-point spread) and social justice or equality (47% vs. 28%, a 19-point spread).
Where Democrat and Republican College Students Agree on the Issues
The narrowest gaps are jobs and economic opportunity (43% vs. 42%) and crime and public safety (34% vs. 33%) — both track almost identically across party lines, reinforcing that "the economy" reads less as a partisan issue than a universal one.
Further, both groups named Cost of living, Healthcare, and Jobs among their top 5 priority issues.
Democratic college students’ top issues by rank:
Cost of living
Healthcare
Social justice
Jobs
Immigration
Republican college students’ top issues by rank:
Cost of living
Jobs
Housing
Healthcare
Free speech
Free speech is the clearest divergence — Republicans rank it 5th overall, Democrats rank it 9th. Crime and public safety shows the same pattern (Republicans 6th, Democrats 10th). Social justice runs the opposite direction: Democrats rank it 3rd, Republicans 9th. Climate change diverges even more sharply — 8th for Democrats, 12th (second-to-last) for Republicans.
Women vs. Men: A gender breakdown of college students’ top issues
Banjo's survey also asked students their gender (optionally), making it possible to break the issue ranking out the same way. Two segments were large enough to analyze directly: women (n = 619) and men (n = 388). (All other students identifying as other genders or opting not to answer were too small of segments for this analysis.)
*Percentages reflect students who selected issue as one they care about.
Women college students select every single issue at a higher rate than men — there's no issue men flag more often.
The widest gaps are healthcare (53% vs. 32%, a 21-point spread), education affordability (46% vs. 29%, 17 points), and social justice (47% vs. 30%, 17 points). The narrowest gap by far is national security (21% vs. 20%) — practically identical, and the only issue where men's selection rate approaches women's.
Female college students' top issues by rank:
Cost of living
Healthcare
Social justice
Jobs
Education affordability
Male college students' top issues by rank:
Cost of living
Jobs
Housing
Free speech
Healthcare
Housing affordability is selected by more women than men (44% vs. 36%) — but internally, men rank it 3rd and women rank it 7th. It's a wide-but-shallow concern for women and a narrower-but-intense one for men.
Why it matters: College students want to talk about the issues
The difference of opinions and priority issues fortunately has not scared students away from wanting to talk to each other, and they express open-mindedness toward other perspectives.
92% of college students say they're interested in engaging in debate with their peers.
72% say they're capable of debating someone they disagree with respectfully.
78% say they've genuinely changed their opinion on an issue as a result of a discussion or debate.
However, the majority of students say opportunities to discuss opposing viewpoints are limited in their college environments.
53% of students want more debate at their school. (Only 9% want less — a roughly 6:1 ratio.)
Fortunately, many institutions today are investing in programs and initiatives to help facilitate more civil discourse on campus – both in and out of the classroom.
*Source: The Discourse Divide, Banjo. n = 1,019 students at two- and four-year institutions nationwide. Fielded April 2026.*
