When it comes to activity in the political arena, University students said they are much more likely to donate time and energy than they are cash.
Binna Lieh '07 calls herself a "Democrat in ideals," but said neither she nor her family has financially aided the Democratic party this election season.
"I just don't think that there's a candidate to whom we want to contribute money," she said.
For those students who have found a promising candidate, contributions do not generally come in the form of dollar bills.
John Fernandez '08, a member of College Republicans, said he thinks "[Republican politicians] don't rely on us so much for funding as they do for manpower."
He explained that "all our Bush-Cheney signs are subsidized by the national organization, so actually money flows in the opposite direction."
College Democrat Joe Franken '07 said he agreed that being a member of a political organization was "more about lending your time than money."
Many members of both groups said they believe the time and energy donated by students have a larger relative impact than cash donations.
However, a small contingency of Princeton students have chosen to aid their politician of choice by contributing financially.
Pablo Kapusta '05 said he donated "$50 to Kerry over the summer to go to a fundraising dinner."
He said part of the attraction of contributing was the convenience. Armed with a credit card and Internet access, he said it was "really easy" to donate.
But there is an overwhelming discrepancy in the financial impact of college students on politics versus the impact of their actons.
Nearly every university in the country has a College Republicans or College Democrats group, both of which provide footsoldiers in "get out the vote" campaigns, but contributions from individuals in the education sector are not even listed by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on their 2004 report on campaign finance.
With contributions to the presidential campaigns this year reaching $477,078,436 for Sen. John Kerry and $338,341,211 for President Bush, according to the FEC, it is understandably difficult for students to compete with interest groups like transportation, insurance, real estate or law.
Dollar for dollar, though, students' money is valued just as much as that of a high-profile donor.
"Everyone's dollar buys the same number of television ads," said Professor Larry Bartels, who specializes in electoral politics and mass media.
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