A College-Educated Party?

July 29, 2022

Chart showing percentage of Democrats and Republicans ages 25 and older with a college degree from 1999 to 2021

A College-Educated Party? The Democratic Party has undergone a remarkable transformation over the last two decades. Nearly half (48 percent) of Democrats today have a four-year college degree, a dramatic increase since the last 1990s when only about one in four had a college education. Much of this change is the result of the growing number of college-educated women who identify as Democrat. In the late nineties, only 13 percent of Democrats were college-educated women, but they make up 28 percent of the party today. In contrast, the educational profile of Republicans has changed little over the last two decades. In the late 1990s, three in ten Republicans had a college education, while roughly as many (31 percent) have a college education today.

Survey Reports

Cartoon rendering of a series of different online dating app prospects, on phone screens

Daniel A. Cox
February 9, 2023

From Swiping to Sexting: The Enduring Gender Divide in American Dating and Relationships

The January 2023 American Perspectives Survey sheds some light on dating preferences, experiences, and perspectives. The national survey of more than 5,000 adults age 18 and older, including nearly 800 single adults, finds that Americans have strong dating preferences when it comes to living at home, being unemployed, and smoking.

Red leather-bound Qur'an on a wooden table with prayer beads and a light blue surgical mask draped over top.

Lindsey Witt-Swanson, Jennifer Benz, Daniel A. Cox
January 5, 2023

Faith After the Pandemic: How COVID-19 Changed American Religion

The Survey Center on American Life at AEI teamed up with researchers at NORC at the University of Chicago to measure religious affiliation and attendance both before the pandemic (2018 to March 2020) and again in spring 2022, revealing who remained at the pews, who returned to the pews, and who left.

A cartoon showing a vibrant office from the ceiling view.

Brent Orrell, Daniel A. Cox, Jessie Wall
October 25, 2022

The Social Workplace: Social Capital, Human Dignity, and Work in America

Why is work, more often than not, the center of life for Americans? Explore the social dimension of work and the role it plays in building human connections and strengthening social capital.

Photograph of pro-choice protestors holding signs

Karlyn Bowman, Daniel A. Cox
October 4, 2022

Gender, Generation and Abortion: Shifting Politics and Perspectives After Roe

Three months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the issue of abortion continues to garner widespread public attention.

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