Under pressure from lawmakers, higher education associations challenged a Harvard University study that said a majority of colleges were not complying with voter registration requirements in the 1998 Higher Education Act.
The associations allege that the study's sample size and methodology were not statistically significant.
The study, conducted by Harvard public policy lecturer David King, found that over one-third of colleges and universities do not provide students with proper voter registration forms and information to help students participate in elections.
But representatives from two national associations that ensure compliance with the law challenged the findings based on what they claim are questionable research methods. Both the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers wrote to government officials challenging the study's findings, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported.
Since the Chronicle ran the study's results as its lead story on Sept. 17, the problem has "come onto the radar screen" for college administrators across the country, King said.
In response to the findings, Democratic and Republican lawmakers have put pressure on higher education associations involved with student voter registration to reverse these apparent trends. Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to eight of these associations on Sept. 23 expressing concern about the study's findings and encouraging revamped registration efforts on campuses nationwide, the Chronicle reported.
But the sample size and response rate of King's study call into question some of its primary findings, according to Barmak Nassirian, executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.
Given that there are 4,200 colleges and universities subject to the requirements of the law, Nassirian said that a sample size of approximately 706 is necessary to make general statements about American colleges and universities. Nassirian said he determined this ideal sample size from consulting "standard statistics books."
The 249 responses King compiled comprise an "inadequate" total sampling that does not support the study's conclusions, Nassirian said. This is particularly true when attempting to make "subset statements" that compare public to private and two-year to four-year institutions, he said.
King's response rate "does not add up to statistical knowledge," Nassirian said. "To me, that's anecdotal."
In addition to sample size, Nassirian says he also takes issue with the study's sampling methodology, which he contends led to a high proportion of responses from schools with subscriptions to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
"Right there, you have a bias," he said.
But King said he doubted the Chronicle affiliation would inflate the number of responses from schools who are not in compliance with the law.
King defended his study's findings, saying that a college would be less likely to respond to his survey if it wasn't in compliance with the law. "If anything, our findings overstate the amount of registration that was taking place before this became a national story," he said.
But Nassirian said that this type of "prejudice" influences the formation of a sampling group and makes it difficult to rely on the study's findings to draw significant conclusions.
He said the executive summary of the study offered "strongly worded" conclusions that require support from a "more rigorous" collection of data.
"I don't even disagree with these findings," Nassirian said. "That's not the heart of the issue."
Critics of the study's conclusions also dispute whether technical compliance with the law adequately measures universities' efforts to register students.
"Ultimately, the question is whether college and university campuses are wholly committed to giving students opportunities to register," Tony Pals, director of public information for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. "Based on the activities that we see at our member institutions nationwide, the answer is a resounding yes."
Pals cited some schools' efforts to distribute registration forms in orientation packets as well as sponsor voter registration drives as evidence of "the rich mix of efforts undertaken by colleges and universities, and their students, as we approach the final weeks of the presidential campaign."
Mark Nickel, director of the Brown News Service, said Brown is currently in compliance with the law, which only requires that colleges make registration forms available for students.
The University provides forms in the registrar's office in University Hall, a location Nickel said is "known and available to all students." President Ruth Simmons notified the Brown community of the location of these forms and upcoming voting deadlines in a mass e-mail sent Sept. 16.
Nickel said the University's policy for making forms available has changed little since the 2000 election, when interim President Sheila Blumstein sent a letter to the Brown community that featured "pretty much the same content" as this year's e-mail.
Seth Magaziner '06, president of the Brown Democrats, recently told The Herald he believes the University can do more to encourage student voter registration.
Nassirian also said that efforts can be increased nationwide, but that the issue is no more pressing than other issues plaguing university campuses.
"Could we do more? Absolutely we could do more," he said. "Could you say the same thing about campus safety? Could you say the same thing about graduation rate?"
King said he believes the backlash to his findings stems from the "defensive" mentality exhibited by organizations responsible for ensuring compliance with the law.
"They simply attacked the messenger instead of accepting responsibility for their own failures," he said.
He also said he is surprised that widespread news coverage of the study has led to action from congressmen.
"It was just a report that we hoped would be noticed by university administrators," he said. "We didn't anticipate that politicians would pay that close of attention to it."
