A slight majority of college students at Iowa State University -– 58 percent — plan to participate in their state’s caucuses in early January, according to a poll of 2,185 students there.

Political analysts have recently questioned whether turnout among college students will be hampered by the timing of the state’s caucuses. They are scheduled for January 3, when most Iowa colleges are on winter break.

Among those surveyed at Iowa State, 47 percent said they were Democrats, 31 percent said they were Republicans, and the remaining 21 percent identified themselves as independents.

The most popular candidates among that collegiate crowd? Barack Obama is the first choice for Democrats at the university, followed by John Edwards.

Although Ron Paul may be lagging in national support, he is a favorite of Iowa State Republicans, garnering top marks from 27 percent of those surveyed. Mitt Romney, however, trails him closely at 24 percent.

The sample size of this survey is admittedly small, according to William F. Woodman, the professor of sociology who supervised the students’ poll. But he says the findings may still be significant.

“One way of interpreting this is that these students are going to spread out over many small precincts in Iowa where one or two votes may have a huge impact,” he says.

Full results of the survey are available here.