Editing Republican Party (United States) (section)

==== Education ====
{{see also|Educational attainment in the United States}}
[[File:Non-College White vote by state.jpg|thumb|Map of the Non-college White vote in the [[2020 United States presidential election|2020 presidential election]] by state.<ref name="White Vote and Educational Polarization">{{Cite web|url=https://split-ticket.org/2022/01/03/the-white-vote-and-educational-polarization/|title=The White Vote and Educational Polarization|first1=Lakshya|last1=Jain|date=January 3, 2022|access-date=January 4, 2025|website=Split Ticket}}</ref>]]
[[File:College white vote by state.jpg|thumb|Map of the College White vote in the [[2020 United States presidential election|2020 presidential election]] by state.<ref name="White Vote and Educational Polarization"/>]]
The Republican Party has steadily increased the percentage of votes it receives from white voters without college degrees since the 1970s, while the [[educational attainment in the United States|educational attainment]] of the United States has steadily increased.<ref name="cambridge.org" /><ref name="Nate Silver">{{Cite web|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/education-not-income-predicted-who-would-vote-for-trump/|title=Education, Not Income, Predicted Who Would Vote For Trump|date=November 22, 2016|website=FiveThirtyEight|first1=Nate|last1=Silver}}</ref><ref name="Harry Enten"/> White voters without college degrees tend to be more socially conservative and are more likely to live in rural areas.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/12/politics/republicans-democrats-different-worlds/index.html|title=Republicans and Democrats increasingly really do occupy different worlds|last=Brownstein|first=Ronald|work=CNN|access-date=October 24, 2018|archive-date=October 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181024113248/https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/12/politics/republicans-democrats-different-worlds/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/2014/9/24/6840037/white-high-school-dropouts-have-more-wealth-than-black-and-hispanic|title=White high school dropouts are wealthier than Black or Latino college graduates|first1=Danielle|last1=Kurtzleben|date=September 24, 2014|website=Vox}}</ref> According to a 2023 [[Gallup, Inc.|Gallup]] poll, confidence in higher education among Republicans declined sharply from 56% in 2015 to 19% in 2023. Among Democrats, confidence in higher education decreased from 68% in 2015 to 59% in 2023.<ref name="Higher Education">{{Cite news |last=Brenan |first=Megan |date=July 11, 2023 |title=Americans' Confidence in Higher Education Down Sharply |work=Gallup |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/508352/americans-confidence-higher-education-down-sharply.aspx |access-date=July 12, 2023|quote=All Major Subgroups, Led by Republicans, Less Confident in Higher Ed}}</ref>

Voters with college degrees as a whole were a Republican-voting group until the 1990s. Despite losing in a landslide, Republican nominee [[Barry Goldwater]] nearly won a majority of voters with college degrees 48–52% in [[1964 United States presidential election|1964]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Election Polls – Vote by Groups, 1960–1964 |url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/9454/Election-Polls-Vote-Groups-19601964.aspx |website=[[Gallup (company)|Gallup]] |access-date=June 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726155334/http://www.gallup.com/poll/9454/Election-Polls-Vote-Groups-19601964.aspx |archive-date=July 26, 2011}}</ref> Republican president [[Gerald Ford]] won voters with college degrees 55-43% in [[1976 United States presidential election|1976]], while narrowly losing to [[Jimmy Carter]].<ref name="1976 Presidential Election Data">{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=1976&datatype=national&def=1&f=0&off=0&elect=0|title=1976 Presidential General Election Data – National|access-date=March 18, 2013|archive-date=August 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814021625/https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/data.php?year=1976&datatype=national&def=1&f=0&off=0&elect=0|url-status=live}}</ref> Since the 1990s, a majority of voters with graduate degrees have consistently voted for the Democratic Party. For example, [[George W. Bush]] won voters with just a bachelor's degree 52-46% while losing voters with a graduate degree 44–55%, while winning re-election in [[2004 United States presidential election|2004]].<ref>{{cite news |title=CNN.com Election 2004 |url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.0.html |access-date=January 2, 2018 |publisher=CNN |archive-date=May 14, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070514025413/http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.0.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Until 2016, white voters with college degrees were a Republican-leaning group.<ref name="Polarization by education"/> Despite Obama's decisive [[2008 United States presidential election|2008]] victory, Republican nominee [[John McCain]] won a majority of white voters with college degrees 51-47% and white voters without college degrees 58-40%.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#val=USP00p1|title=National Exit Poll|publisher=CNN|access-date=January 28, 2013|archive-date=June 5, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605132422/http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/results/polls/#val=USP00p1|url-status=live}}</ref> In [[2012 United States presidential election|2012]], Republican nominee [[Mitt Romney]] won white voters with college degrees 56-42%, though Obama won voters with college degrees as a whole 50-48% while winning re-election.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/09/15/educational-divide-in-vote-preferences-on-track-to-be-wider-than-in-recent-elections/|date=September 15, 2016|website=Pew Research Center|title=Educational divide in vote preferences on track to be wider than in recent elections|first1=Rob|last1=Suls}}</ref> Since the 2010s,<ref name="Polarization by education">{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/united-states/2024/10/13/polarisation-by-education-is-remaking-american-politics|title=Polarisation by education is remaking American politics|newspaper=The Economist|date=October 13, 2024|quote=From 1952 to 2000, a majority of white voters with college degrees self-identified as Republicans. Starting with the 2012 election, this affiliation began to weaken. It loosened even more once [Donald] Trump became the Republican standard-bearer in 2016. By 2020, the college-educated called themselves Democrats by a 2:1 margin. And there were many more of them; their share of the electorate rose from 8% in 1952 to 40% in 2020. Had the party held on to the rest of its support, this would have ensured an enduring majority. Yet at the same time, Democrats lost support among whites without college degrees. They now favour Republicans by their own margin of 2:1.}}</ref> white voters with college degrees have been increasingly voting for the Democratic Party.<ref name="nymag.com">{{cite web|url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/10/education-polarization-diploma-divide-democratic-party-working-class.html|title=How the Diploma Divide Is Remaking American Politics|first1=Eric|last1=Levitz|website=[[New York (magazine)|New York Intelligencer]]|date=October 19, 2022|access-date=April 24, 2023|archive-date=October 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020215535/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/10/education-polarization-diploma-divide-democratic-party-working-class.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/17/opinion/education-american-politics.html|title=The 'Diploma Divide' Is the New Fault Line in American Politics|website=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 17, 2023|access-date=April 24, 2023|first1=Doug|last1=Sosnik|archive-date=April 24, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424073901/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/17/opinion/education-american-politics.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Following the 2016 presidential election, exit polls indicated that "Donald Trump attracted a large share of the vote from Whites without a college degree, receiving 72 percent of the White non-college male vote and 62 percent of the White non-college female vote." Overall, 52% of voters with college degrees voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, while 52% of voters without college degrees voted for Trump.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2016/11/18/educational-rift-in-2016-election/|title=The educational rift in the 2016 election|first=William A. Galston and Clara|last=Hendrickson|date=November 18, 2016|access-date=March 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308080815/https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2016/11/18/educational-rift-in-2016-election/|archive-date=March 8, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the [[2020 United States presidential election]], Donald Trump won white voters without college degrees 67-32%, while losing white voters with a college degree 48–51%.<ref name="nymag.com"/><ref name="nytimes.com"/><ref>{{Cite news|title=National Results 2020 President exit polls.|url=https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/exit-polls/president/national-results|access-date=2020-12-04|work=[[CNN]]|language=en}}</ref> In the [[2024 United States presidential election]], Trump maintained his margins among white voters without college degrees 66-32% and lost white voters with a college degree 45-52%. In 2024, Trump won 56% of voters without a college degree, compared to 42% of voters with a college degree.<ref>{{cite news|date=November 6, 2024|title=Exit poll results 2024|url=https://www.cnn.com/election/2024/exit-polls/national-results/general/president/0|access-date=November 6, 2024|publisher=CNN}}</ref>