Also, many students do not see how their vote makes all that much difference. Admittedly, it is hard to conceive that one vote will have a direct effect in the wake of the millions of ballots cast across the country. However the college student vote as a block, does matter. If every college student voted, it would have enough impact to give either Gore or Bush the edge in their tight race, or give Green Party candidate Ralph Nader that extra push to get his five percent of the popular vote, enabling his party to receive Federal Election Campaign funding in the 2004 election. While these results may not necessarily decide the election, they are immensely important in demonstrating that college students not only care about politics, but must be valued and considered as a constituency.
Inconvenience is also a factor in low voter turnout.
Most students are registered to vote in their home states and consider obtaining an absentee ballot to be a complicated process, or at least a hassle. Luckily, it has become pretty easy to get an absentee ballot. All that said, I think the biggest factor in low student voter turnout is the candidates themselves. Many voters are having a hard time distinguishing George W. Bush's positions and policies from Al Gore's. Students are left to wonder whether voting makes a difference at all, given the striking resemblance between this year's breed of donkey and pachyderm.