Former President Donald Trump is well-known for his appeal to working-class GOP voters.But college graduates, who at one point wavered on Trump’s 2024 bid, are now back in the fold.Trump’s support from this group has been critical in building his leads in most of the early-voting states.

During Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign, he quickly become a favorite of the working-class voting bloc that has become an increasingly influential part of the Republican coalition.

These voters, who have been among Trump’s most stalwart backers in poll after poll assessing the 2024 GOP primaries, are set to give him a significant edge in Iowa and South Carolina, as well as upcoming primaries across the country.

But there is one GOP bloc that had seemingly wavered on Trump but is now back in the former president’s corner: college-educated voters.

While a slew of GOP college graduates have indeed drifted in the direction of former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, many wavering voters eventually found their way back to Trump. DeSantis, especially, had been eyeing these voters and even led Trump in several 2023 statewide surveys before he had formally entered the presidential race.

But many of these college-educated voters are back in line with Trump, as they’ve rejected the criminal charges that the former president faces and have expressed disappointment with DeSantis’ campaign, according to The New York Times.

These voters also feel as though Trump would be a stronger candidate than Haley, citing the former president’s focus on domestic political issues, per the newspaper.

Haley, who served as governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017 before stepping down to become the US ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, has become the darling of many affluent conservatives and GOP donors after DeSantis’ campaign stumbles. And she’s set to perform well in the Iowa counties most populated with college graduates, as well as in next week’s New Hampshire primary.

But Trump’s support still cuts across every demographic within the party, which is putting a ceiling on the level of support that Haley can realistically attract given that GOP college graduates have not abandoned the former president.

“These are Fox News viewers who are coming back around to him,” Iowa GOP operative David Kochel told the newspaper. “These voters are smart enough to see the writing on the wall that Trump is going to win, and essentially want to get this over with and send him off to battle Biden.”

The numbers tell the story of the shift.

In a Suffolk University/USA Today poll taken in late 2022, 61% of Republicans and conservative-leaning independents said they backed Trump’s policies but would prefer “a different Republican nominee for president.” Among GOP college graduates, that number hit 76% support.

But in the most recent Suffolk University/USA Today poll released this month, 60% of GOP college graduates said that they would back Trump in their respective caucus or primary, with 14% supporting Haley and 6% behind DeSantis.