Students therefore wield a particular form of power in the current era. First, the surge of new young voters into the electoral arena has party strategists re-calculating numbers and re-thinking policy positions. Second, universities and colleges need young bodies for survival at least as much as the young believe they need degrees. The threat of strategic withdrawal from and/or disruption of higher education institutions remains young people’s political trump card. While the interests of non-college attending youth speak most urgently to the great threats facing increasing numbers of young Americans, protest leverage and the likelihood of political engagement is linked to participation in higher education institutions.
In combination with declining higher education enrollments of African-American and low-income whites (discussed below), the lack of higher education opportunity for this fast-growing section of American youth is politically provocative.
Learning Change 