Today’s college students are more engaged in their communities, but they often feel ambivalent about formal politics and turned off by partisanship, according to a new report released today.

The report, “Millennials Talk Politics: A Study of College Student Political Engagement,” found that students recognize the importance of being educated and involved citizens, but they discount much of the information available to them because they dislike its polarizing and partisan nature.

The study, by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement and the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, also notes that colleges are not equal when it comes to providing opportunity for civic engagement. At some colleges, the report says, students have trouble walking across the campus without being recruited for a political cause, while at other institutions, there is little opportunity to become politically involved.

The study’s authors conducted focus groups with nearly 400 students on a dozen four-year campuses, including Bowdoin College, Kansas State University, and the University of New Mexico. They also conducted a written survey and drew on a national telephone survey. They study follows up on a 1993 study published by the Kettering Foundation that found that students considered politics “irrelevant” to their lives and saw little purpose in active political participation.

The report’s chief recommendation is that students need opportunities for civic and political participation and to discuss issues in “open” and “authentic” settings.