Forty-seven percent of college students identify their political beliefs as “middle of the road,” an increase of four percentage points from 2008, according the UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute survey of incoming college freshmen released Thursday.

While there was no change in the 23 percent of students who consider themselves conservatives, the number of students identifying themselves as liberal decreased to 30 percent from 34 percent in 2008.

The survey also found a seven percentage point drop in students supporting a national healthcare plan but backing was still overwhelming: in 2008, 70 percent supported it; now it’s dipped to 63 percent.