College Of The Canyons, CalArts Named Top Schools For Student Voter Engagement

Posted by: Rachel Matta in Education Corner, Santa Clarita Latest News September 27, 2022 - 1:00 pm 0 653 Views

With some of the top voter registration rates in the United States, College of the Canyons (COC) and the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) unite with a small collection of nationwide universities with extraordinarily civic-minded students.

As voter registration heightens just ahead of the November midterm elections, students at COC and CalArts are challenging the common perception that college kids do not make it to the polls.

In their recent list highlighting public and private schools with the highest number of registered voters, Washington Monthly named COC and CalArts – both based in Santa Clarita – “America’s Best Colleges for Student Voting,” according to Washington Monthly.

Both colleges participate in the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, a national, nonpartisan awards program recognizing colleges and universities for improving civic learning, political engagement and student voting rates. As a part of this initiative, students, faculty and staff have worked together to develop and implement an action plan to increase voting and civic engagement, according to a statement from COC officials.

College of the Canyons

“The Center for Civic Engagement at COC is extremely proud to have been recognized for a third consecutive year by Washington Monthly magazine,” said Patty Robinson, faculty director of civic and community engagement initiatives at the college. “Encouraging our students to take an interest in civic engagement for the betterment of their communities is our driving force.”

COC is the only California community college of the 26 to be named among “America’s Best Colleges for Student Voting,” mainly due to “its commitment to inspiring students to vote and actively participate in community decisions,” according to a statement from COC officials.

During election seasons, COC hosts numerous discussion panels and distributes nonpartisan materials that provide additional information on propositions and candidates.

The school also participates in the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement, which provides colleges and universities with data on student registration and voting rates, providing benchmarks to measure the success of future voting engagement efforts, according to COC officials.

California Institute of the Arts

While both schools have been highlighted as some of the top 230 voter engagement institutions in the country, CalArts has additionally been recognized for its voter registration rate surpassing 85 percent, according to Washington Monthly.

To be included in the magazine’s student voting honor roll, both colleges were required to submit their 2020 and 2022 action plans to the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. In addition, it had to sign up to receive data from the NSLVE and make its 2018 and 2020 NSLVE data available to the public.

“Schools need to have shown a repeated commitment to increasing student voting — and have been transparent about the results,” said the magazine about its eligibility criteria.

For the full list, click here.

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