1 in 5 College Students Agree ‘America Deserved 9/11’ as Campus Support for Socialism Jumps, Poll Finds

More than one in five U.S. college students agreed that “America deserved September 11th” in a national survey for the Buckley Institute, a group named for conservative writer William F. Buckley Jr.^[1] Of 803 full-time undergraduates under 25, 21.8% agreed, 71.7% disagreed and 6.5% were unsure.^[2] The New York Post reported the results on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026.^[1]

Related: DSA-Backed Candidates Won 106 Races on Nov. 3, Including 8 House Seats: Full Results.

What students said about 9/11

Half of those who agreed did so strongly: 11.0% strongly agreed and 10.8% somewhat agreed.^[2] The largest single group, 63.2%, strongly disagreed.^[2] Every respondent was under 25 when the survey ran in September, so nearly all were born after the 2001 attacks (Boston Report calculation).^[2]

The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.^[1] Buckley Institute founder Lauren Noble said the survey shows “censorious attitudes remain stubbornly high on America’s college campuses.”^[1]

Socialism, Israel and speech: a sharp turn in one year

Asked which economic system they would rather live under, 41.6% chose socialism and 27.8% capitalism, with 30.7% unsure.^[2] A year earlier, the same survey found capitalism ahead, 40% to 36%.^[3] The 2026 gap of 14 points is the widest in the five years the question has been asked, the Post reported.^[1]

Agreement rose on several speech questions. The share saying physical violence can be justified to stop someone using hate speech went from 39% to 44.6%.^[3][2] Support for criminally prosecuting offensive speech went from 33% to 39.7%.^[3][2] One measure eased: 45.8% said shouting down a campus speaker is sometimes appropriate, down from a record 48%.^[3][2]

On foreign policy, 38.2% named “Palestine” and 24.9% Israel as the better U.S. ally, with 36.9% unsure.^[2] Israel drew a 26.9% favorable and 47.3% unfavorable rating.^[2] Half the students, 50.2%, said America is inextricably linked to white supremacy, while 39.0% said the promise of equality keeps expanding.^[2]

Asked about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on a Utah campus last year, 53.6% said nobody should be killed for political beliefs.^[2] But 26.4% chose the statement that his rhetoric was harmful and that his words had consequences.^[2] Most students, 65.1%, agreed they are proud to be American.^[2]

Who answered the survey

The sample leaned left: 46.0% of respondents identified as Democrats and 18.8% as Republicans; 51.7% called themselves liberal and 13.4% conservative.^[2] About 70% attend public four-year schools.^[2] Computer and information science was the most common single major group.^[2]

How the poll was run, and why that matters

The survey was conducted Sept. 5–14 by Inquire LLC, and the Post reported a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.^[1] Inquire’s 2025 edition of the same study described its method: online interviews with students screened from a nationwide platform of people who choose to take online surveys, weighted to federal education statistics by age, race, gender and region.^[3]

That kind of opt-in sample has a known weak spot with young adults. Pew Research Center found that some opt-in respondents answer insincerely to collect rewards, and that these “bogus respondents” inflate rare or extreme views most among adults under 30.^[4] In one test, 20% of young adults in an opt-in poll agreed the Holocaust is a myth; Pew’s mail-recruited panel, using the same wording, found 3%.^[4]

Pew’s work does not show the Buckley figures are wrong. It does mean a striking result from an opt-in sample of young adults is stronger once a probability-based survey repeats it.^[4]

Are students being indoctrinated? What other research shows

The question is often raised, and the data offer pieces of an answer rather than a verdict. In the Buckley survey, 61.4% said their professors make their political leanings clear in how they teach, and 53.7% said they often feel intimidated sharing views that differ from professors’.^[2] A similar 53.3% said the same about classmates.^[2]

Where young people get news has also changed. About four in 10 adults under 30 now regularly get news on TikTok, compared with 4% of those 65 and older.^[5]

Lower national pride among the young predates this poll. From 2021 to 2025, 41% of Gen Z adults told Gallup they were extremely or very proud to be American, against 83% of the Silent Generation.^[6] “Gen Z is definitely much lower than anybody else,” said Gallup senior editor Jeffrey Jones.^[7]

These surveys measure what young Americans believe and how that is shifting. None of them measures why, so they cannot show whether the views come from classrooms, social media, world events or something else.

The full question list and results are in the Buckley Institute’s published topline. More coverage is on our Politics page.

Sources

1. New York Post: Alarming number of college students claim US deserved 9/11: poll
2. Buckley Institute / Inquire: National Undergraduate Study topline, Sept. 2026 (PDF)
3. Buckley Institute / Inquire: National Undergraduate Study executive summary, Sept. 2025 (PDF)
4. Pew Research Center: Online opt-in polls can produce misleading results, especially for young people and Hispanic adults
5. Pew Research Center: Americans who regularly get news on TikTok
6. Gallup: American Pride Slips to New Low
7. KSAT: National pride is declining in America and it’s splitting by party lines

About the reporter: Marcus Hale is an AI reporter covering U.S. politics and government for The Boston Report. This article was produced with AI under our editorial policy. Read our AI and media disclosure.