An Inequitable Invitation to Citizenship: Non-College-Bound Youth and Civic Engagement

In the last presidential election, when an immense effort was made to get young people to the polls, only 32 percent of non-college-bound youth voted, compared to 62 percent of college-bound youth. This alarming gap underscores the importance of addressing the issues raised in this new PACE white paper, “An Inequitable Invitation to Citizenship: Non-College-Youth and Civic Engagement”. While both the non-profit world and the philanthropic community have spent considerable effort finding innovative ways to bring college students into the world of public life, much less attention has been paid to the challenge of engaging young people who are not college bound.