With President Trump entering his third month in office and the University adjusting to new federal actions, The Herald polled 1,145 undergraduates about their opinions on the nation’s — and College Hill’s — most pressing issues.
The Herald’s spring poll was conducted between March 18 and 20, prior to reports that the Trump administration plans to review $510 million of the University’s federal funding due to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and allegations of antisemitism.
Here are five key takeaways from The Herald’s spring poll. Access and explore all the data on The Herald’s interactive data dashboard.
Over 90% of students disapprove of President Trump
A vast majority of students disapproved of Trump, with more than 75% of students reporting that they strongly disapproved of the president. Just 2.3% of students reported that they approved or strongly approved of Trump.
This aligns with students’ broader political perspectives — over 75% of respondents identified as liberal or very liberal, with under 7% saying they were conservative or very conservative. The Herald’s fall poll previously found that under 5% of Brown students planned to cast their ballots for Trump in the 2024 election.
Liberal students cited democracy, immigration and issues with federal funding and federal agency restructuring as primary factors influencing their opinion of the administration. Conservative student’s top issues were foreign policy, immigration and the economy.
Overall, immigration, democracy and funding cuts ranked as the top three issues influencing students’ perspectives on the White House.
Just days before the poll was conducted, the administration’s approach to immigration enforcement affected the Brown community directly. On March 14, assistant professor of medicine and doctor Rasha Alawieh was deported against a federal judge’s orders despite holding a valid H-1B visa. Alawieh allegedly had “sympathetic photos” of Hezbollah leaders on her phone and attended the funeral of the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Last week, Brown became the fifth Ivy League university to face threats of funding cuts. As of Wednesday, the University had not yet heard from the White House regarding the planned funding freeze. Ahead of the poll, Columbia was the only Ivy League institution that had already faced cuts to federal funding. Penn had $175 million frozen on the second day of The Herald’s poll.
On March 31, over a week after the poll was conducted, Provost Francis Doyle and Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 shared a community-wide letter saying that one percent of existing research grants at Brown had been cut.
Less than 20% of students approved of Brown’s response to Trump
A majority of students reported that they neither approved nor disapproved of Brown’s response to new Trump administration policies. But despite this neutrality, more students reported disapproval than approval.
Seniors were the most likely to approve of Brown’s response. Black students were the most likely to disapprove of Brown’s response.
At a March 17 protest responding to Alawieh’s deportation, several members of the Brown community criticized what they considered an insufficient response by Brown to increased risks of deportation.
In Carey and Doyle’s March 31 letter, they wrote that campus law enforcement would not respond to requests for immigration status information unless under subpoena.
In a March 20 letter, sent out on the last day of The Herald’s poll, Paxson reaffirmed the University’s commitment to freedom of expression, supporting international community members and following the law.
About 25% of students have accepted paid internships for this summer
Students studying the physical sciences are most likely to have accepted a paid summer internship, at one-third. Students studying the social sciences and life sciences fall just under that figure, with 23.5% and 20.2% reporting that they have accepted paid internships, respectively.
One-third of respondents said they were still looking for an internship in mid-March. These numbers were highest for students studying arts and humanities.
Male respondents were also more likely to have accepted a summer internship at 28%, compared to 22% of female students.
These numbers come at a time when many students are uncertain about how funding cuts will affect their future research and summer plans. The Herald previously reported that recent cuts to federal hiring have made some students nervous about current and future job prospects.
Less than 25% of students approve of Residential Life
Weeks before the annual housing lottery, The Herald found that less than a quarter of students approve of the Office of Residential Life. First years were more likely to approve of the department compared to their older counterparts.
President Paxson’s approval has remained steady from the fall
Paxson’s approval ratings have stayed relatively steady since last semester, following peak disapproval in spring 2024. First years, as well as male and straight students were the most likely to approve of Paxson. Arts and humanities students were among the most likely to disapprove.
About 40% of students neither approve nor disapprove of Paxson. Just under 40% said they disapprove or strongly disapprove.
Last spring, Paxson’s disapproval rating hit an all-time high of 59%. Amid growing pro-Palestinian activism and calls for the University to divest from companies associated with Israel, multiple student groups spoke out against the University president. In October, the University’s Corporation voted against a divestment proposal considering companies affiliated with Israel.
Paxson’s approval ratings still haven’t recovered since a high in spring 2018.
Editor’s Note: The Herald’s semesterly poll was conducted between March 18 and March 20, 2025. All responses were analyzed and weighted by class year using R Version 4.4.1. Polls were conducted at three locations around campus: Wriston Quadrangle, Sciences Quadrangle and the Main Green. The poll was analyzed by Ciara Meyer, Maya Kelly, Caleb Ellenberg, Ian Ritter, Annika Singh, Emily Bao and Sanai Rashid. It received 1,145 responses.
Maya Kelly is a metro editor from Providence who covers community, crime and activism as well as business and development. A concentrator in urban studies and data fluency, she is passionate about intersecting storytelling with data analysis. When Maya's not at The Herald, you can find her hanging from an aerial silk, bullet journaling or in the middle of a forest.
Ciara Meyer is a section editor from Saratoga Springs, New York. She plans on concentrating in Statistics and English Nonfiction. In her free time, she loves scrapbooking and building lego flowers.
