Who do incoming college students trust? Parents overwhelmingly top national poll

An overwhelming majority — 93% — of incoming college students place trust in their parents, but that level of comfort drops significantly for elected officials and especially the national news media, a NBC News and Generation Lab poll found.

A majority of polled students trust local elected officials (66%), local police (64%), and state elected officials (55%). 

However, less than half trust the president (48%), Congress (43%), and national news media (36%).

Wade Raines, a freshman at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina,  said trust in national media differs across various outlets. 

"The only news I actually trust are basically news stations, such as PBS, or the newspaper. Stations like Fox News, CNN, MSNBC...it's more like they're addressing their opinions," Raines explains.

When it comes to trust in the country's commander in chief,  42% of students disapprove of the way President Joe Biden is handling his job, including 12% who do so strongly.

By comparison, 70% of the students say they have a negative opinion of former President Donald Trump.

The NBC News/Generation Lab poll was conducted Aug. 18-19 from a representative sample of 1,108 college students nationwide from two-year and four-year institutions.

Liberal views on abortion and race

Additionally, the poll finds 73% of incoming college freshmen believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, versus 27% who believe it should be illegal in all or most cases.

The levels of incoming college freshmen supporting abortion is higher than that of the general adult population.

According to a separate NBC poll conducted in August, 54% of American adults believed abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

"That decision should solely be the person that is carrying the child, and that laws against it should not be made by men, period," says Zephyr Ning, an incoming freshman at New York University.

What’s more, 60% of college freshmen think that a person’s gender can be different from someone’s sex at birth.

"As long as you are comfortable in your own skin, and you believe to be whatever gender that you want to be, then no one else should be able to take that decision away from you," Ning says.

A combined 79% ofstudents believe that American society is racist, with 22% calling it “totally racist” and 57% calling it “somewhat racist.”

Of those who say that American society is racist, 57% think that racism should be taught in elementary school, while 32% say it should be taught in middle school.

High optimism on personal future

Students expressed very high levels of optimism for their personal lives and job security but felt far less optimism for the direction the world and nation are moving.

For example, 92%  of the students attending either two-year or four-year institutions are optimistic about their personal lives, including 28% who say they’re “super” optimistic, the poll found.

Another 92% think they’ll get the job they want after they graduate, while 88% definitely or probably plan to get married and nearly 80% plan to have children.

Less than half of respondents – 48% – say they’re optimistic about the United States, while 60% are optimistic about the world.

Heightened anxiety and depression 

A large number, 62%, of the Class of 2025 say they’ve experienced anxiety in the last year, while 47% say they’ve experienced depression.

The pandemic seemed to exacerbate anxiety and depression, with 58% of those who experienced anxiety and/or depression saying the pandemic made things worse for them.

Small number unvaccinated

The poll  found that a combined 77% of the college freshmen say they’ve received the COVID-19 vaccine, either fully or partially.

"I think people should get the vaccine. I mean, I'm vaccinated," says Raines of Western Carolina University. "If everyone would just get vaccinated, we could get back to some normalcy."

Just 22% of students say they haven’t gotten the vaccine.

Of those who say they haven’t been vaccinated and won’t take it under any circumstance, the top reasons for their opposition include being worried about side effects, that the vaccine is too untested and that they’re not too worried about the coronavirus. 

Michelle Shen is a Money & Tech Digital Reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her @michelle_shen10 on Twitter.