Student political money in the 2008 FEC cycle

Student as occupation, 2008 as the cycle

Two FEC fields define the cell: occupation STUDENT and election cycle 2008. Matching rows sum to $12,668,625, 7,778 contributions, and 4,055 donors. Student on a 2008 receipt is whatever filers typed. FEC.gov does not confirm enrollment. The occupation hub is $142,935,090 across every cycle in the aggregate. The 2008 cycle hub mixes every other occupation that used that year. Neither hub restates this intersection; this tie page exists because the two dimensions meet.

2008’s dollar share is 8.9% ($12,668,625 of $142,935,090). The remainder, $130,266,465, sits in other cycles on the occupation hub. Thousands of donor keys and a sub-ten-percent year share mean 2008 is a presidential-year slice of a large all-cycle student roll, not a one-campus stack. Correlation between a job title and a two-year FEC window is a reporting overlap, not causation of an election outcome. Itemized individual receipts are the coverage. Unitemized money never appears in $12,668,625.

The Student string across every cycle on file

$142,935,090 is the occupation-side denominator. It is not limited to 2008. STUDENT TEACHER, GRADUATE STUDENT, and COLLEGE STUDENT are other occupation keys if stored as different strings. Adding those keys to $142,935,090 would be a researcher-built recode, not this table. Occupation labels are filer-entered on itemized individual receipts.

Open Student donations for the $142,935,090 roll. Open the 2008 election cycle hub for every occupation in that window. All occupations and All FEC ties place this pair beside other occupation-cycle pages without combining dollar figures.

4,055 donors and a presidential-year mean gift

Dividing $12,668,625 by 7,778 contributions yields about $1,629 per gift. Dividing by 4,055 donors yields about $3,124 per donor. Gifts per donor average about 1.9 (7,778 ÷ 4,055). Those ratios describe this string in 2008, not payroll at firms that employ people with similar titles.

4,055 is a donor-key count inside the occupation × cycle aggregate, not a headcount of everyone who held the job in 2008. Repeat itemization, couples filing separately, and people who used the string on some receipts but not others all move the 4,055 figure. The cycle hub still holds every other occupation’s 2008 receipts beside this cell.

What 8.9% of Student dollars is not

A 8.9% share of Student-coded dollars from 2008 does not mean the occupation caused those gifts, and it does not mean people with that title funded a policy outcome. Occupation and cycle are reported together. The overlap is descriptive. Independent expenditures, committee-to-committee transfers, and unitemized gifts are out of scope.

Federal awards on USAspending.gov are a different ledger. This join does not claim that 2008 donations funded contracts or grants. Quote $12,668,625 as itemized individual receipts tagged STUDENT in 2008, source FEC.gov, and stop there.

How to cite Student × 2008

A complete claim names Student and 2008, then $12,668,625, 7,778 contributions, 4,055 donors, and 8.9% of $142,935,090, source FEC.gov. Do not convert 4,055 keys into licensed or employed practitioners. Do not fold independent expenditures or USAspending awards into the cell. Keep both sides of the name—Student and 2008—whenever the dollars are quoted. Mean gift $1,629 and mean per donor $3,124 travel with those counts; they do not travel with a licensing board.

Occupation hub, cycle hub, and other campus titles

The occupation hub still holds $130,266,465 outside 2008. Most of the $142,935,090 roll is not this cycle’s cell. This page isolates the overlap for readers who need both the title and the year, not either hub restated. STUDENT TEACHER, GRADUATE STUDENT, and COLLEGE STUDENT are other occupation keys if stored as different strings. Those titles are not parents of STUDENT on this page. Gifts per donor in 2008 average about 1.9. That ratio is 7,778 divided by 4,055, not a measure of turnout.

Questions

How much did Student-tagged donors give in 2008?

The join records $12,668,625 in itemized individual contributions for occupation Student in the 2008 FEC cycle, from 7,778 contributions and 4,055 donors. The occupation’s all-cycle total is $142,935,090, so 2008 is 8.9% of that roll. Figures come from FEC.gov aggregates. Occupation labels are filer-entered.

Does this count every student who donated in 2008?

No. The 4,055 donor keys are people whose itemized receipts grouped to STUDENT in 2008. Filers who used a different title are other occupation rows. FEC.gov does not verify jobs. The cell totals $12,668,625 on 7,778 lines. Unitemized gifts never appear in this aggregate.

What share of Student occupation money is the 2008 cycle?

8.9%: $12,668,625 of $142,935,090. The remaining $130,266,465 sits in other cycles on the occupation hub. That share is $12,668,625 divided by $142,935,090, not a ranking of civic engagement and not a peak-year list. Other years’ amounts are not in this packet except as that remainder.

Where are the live Student and 2008 tables?

Student donations carries the $142,935,090 occupation total. The 2008 election cycle hub places Student beside other occupation strings that year. All occupations and All FEC ties list sibling joins. Original filings remain at FEC.gov. This tie page is the Student × 2008 intersection only.