Every May, colleges and universities guide students through some of the biggest decisions they will make. High school seniors commit to where they will enroll. Graduates step into whatever comes next. These are moments institutions take seriously, and for good reason. They shape where students will live, who they will meet, and how they begin the next phase of their lives.
In my work as executive director of Nonprofit VOTE, a nonpartisan organization that works with nonprofits to engage communities often left out of civic life, I’ve seen what happens when that next phase begins without a clear connection to participation. Many of the people we reach are not disengaged by choice. They missed earlier opportunities to build the habit or encountered systems that were difficult to navigate during moments of transition. By the time we meet them, we are often picking up the pieces, helping people reconnect to a system they were never fully brought into or lost track of along the way.
I have also had the chance to spend time on campuses during another kind of moment. Last fall, on National Voter Registration Day, I was at Brandeis University working alongside students registering their peers. I have seen similar efforts at campuses across the country. The details vary, but the pattern is consistent. When the work is supported by the institution and led by students, it fits naturally into campus life. Students stop, ask questions, talk to each other, and take part in something that feels immediate and relevant.
What stands out is not just the number of registrations. It is the way students connect with their campus and with each other. They are learning how to navigate something that affects their everyday lives and beginning to see themselves as part of a broader community.
May is one of the last structured moments before students step into systems that are harder to navigate. When a student decides where to go to college, they are often also deciding where they will vote. Some will remain registered at home. Others will register near campus. Many are encountering these questions for the first time, and the answers are not always simple. Rules differ from state to state. Deadlines, identification requirements, and residency questions can be confusing even for people who have been voting for years.
These choices are unfolding alongside decisions about housing, financial aid, and travel, the full plate of decisions that come with stepping into adulthood. Whether civic participation is included in that mix is often left to chance.
By the time students arrive on campus, much of the framework for their daily lives is already in place, including whether and how they will participate in upcoming elections. When these questions are not raised early, they are more likely to be deferred until they are harder to act on.
Students are not just choosing a school. They are choosing a place, a community, and a set of systems that will shape their lives. Whether they see participation as part of that experience is often determined before they arrive.
The same dynamic applies a few weeks later when students graduate. They move to new cities, start new jobs, and leave behind the structures that made engagement easier. Some carry those habits with them. Others do not. Transitions interrupt routines, even important ones. Much of the work organizations like Nonprofit VOTE take on happens at this stage, after the moment has passed, when participation has fallen off and the pieces need to be put back together.
Colleges and universities, and even high schools, are uniquely positioned to act earlier. This is not outside their mission. Institutions already help students navigate complex transitions through advising, orientation, and support systems. Integrating civic participation into that ecosystem is a natural extension of work they are already doing to prepare students for life beyond campus.
In many cases, that work can begin even before students arrive, while they are still in high school. All states allow some form of pre-registration, enabling students, often as young as 16 or 17, to register before they turn 18, with their registration becoming active when they are eligible. For some, it even opens the door to participating in primaries when they are still 17, so long as they turn 18 by the general election. State rules vary, but the broader opportunity is clear: pre-registration allows schools and counselors to reach students early, regardless of whether they ultimately attend college, change plans, or experience disruptions along the way.
When integrated into existing touchpoints, this work does not feel like an add-on. High school counselors can fold pre-registration into the same conversations where students are weighing financial aid and postsecondary plans. Student leaders can anchor efforts around familiar moments like National Voter Registration Day. On campus, partnerships with civic groups can extend that reach, making participation visible and accessible from the start.
Encouraging students to register or pre-register ahead of time can simplify what becomes more complicated later. Students who move can always update their registration once they settle in, but taking that first step early helps ensure participation is not lost in the shuffle of a major life transition.
For many students, college is one of the first institutions they engage with in a sustained way outside of their family. It is where they begin to form expectations about how institutions operate and how they themselves fit within them. Experiences that are clear, accessible, and connected to real life can shape whether participation feels like a natural part of adulthood or something distant and difficult to navigate.
Colleges and universities have long understood that education extends beyond the classroom. The experiences students have on campus shape how they see themselves and how they engage with the world around them. Civic participation is one part of that picture, and it is often most meaningful when it is connected to the moments students are already moving through.
In a month defined by decisions about the future, ensuring that this one is not left behind is less about adding something new and more about recognizing what is already at stake. Ask yourself what can be put in place now before distractions and transitions lead to disengagement that hardens into a lifelong habit. Help build engaged citizens from the start so groups like mine don’t have to pick up the pieces later.
