Confidence in America’s colleges and universities has reached an all-time low, says a new poll conducted by the Gallup organisation for the Lumina Foundation. This is despite evidence to suggest that a higher education produces better outcomes for individuals.
Almost one third of the 2,000 Americans surveyed by telephone say they have very little or no confidence in higher education. Another third say they have some confidence, while 36% say they have a great deal of confidence in the country’s post-secondary institutions.
The Lumina Foundation is a NGO based in Indianapolis, Indiana, that works to increase opportunities for access and success in tertiary education for all Americans, in conjunction with Gallup global analytics firm.
Drop in Republican support
Even more striking is the steep decline in support for higher education among Republicans, who make up 32% of voters and 48% of voters registered with a party. Half of Republicans reported having little or no confidence in the nation’s colleges while only 20% reported having a great deal of confidence.
These figures are almost a mirror image of those recorded in 2015, when 56% of Republicans reported having a great deal of confidence in post-secondary institutions and only 11% reported having little or no confidence in them.
Though not to the same levels, confidence in colleges has also declined among Democrats (who make up 33% of the electorate and 49% of those who are members of a party) and Independents.
In 2015, 68% of Democrats had confidence in colleges and universities; today 56% do, while those who report having no confidence have risen from the low single digits to 12%.
Among Independents, confidence has fallen from 50% to 33% and the percentage who report having little or no confidence in higher education institutions has risen from about 12% to 33%, says the poll.
Narrative at odds with reality
According to Courtney Brown, vice-president of impact and planning at the Lumina Foundation, these figures show the impact of what she calls “the narrative that is out there that college isn’t worth it, that it’s too expensive, that it’s become too liberal.
“Yet, we know from the data that college is worth it, that people do better the more education they have. So the narrative is not lining up with the reality,” she says.
Although the survey was conducted shortly after hundreds of American campuses were convulsed by pro-Palestinian protests and charges of antisemitism were in the news and examined by Congress, only 5% of those who indicated they did not have confidence in higher education institutions listed student unrest as the reason for their opinion, and 2% indicated it was rooted in concerns about antisemitism.
Forty-one percent indicated that they believed college professors had a political agenda, with 25% saying professors brainwashed students, 17% saying campuses were too liberal, 5% saying students were not allowed to think for themselves, 3% citing too much emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and 1% believing that colleges were “too socialist”.
Thirty-seven percent of those with little or no confidence said that colleges did not teach the right things, with 30% saying that students were not “properly educated” or taught “relevant skills.” Twenty-eight percent cited the cost of a college education.
Higher confidence in community colleges
Although, according to Brown, most Americans had four-year BA granting institutions in mind when answering the survey questions, an important aspect of this study is that it disaggregates the data for four-year and two-year community colleges.
Some of the latter now grant BAs and many act as escalators into state universities via articulation agreements.
Faith in community colleges is greater than it is for four-year institutions, though here too Republicans have less faith in these schools than do independents and Democrats.
Only 35% of Republicans reported having a great deal of confidence in community colleges, while 46% of Independents do and more than two-thirds of Democrats have faith in these colleges.
Community colleges scored higher on a range of measures when compared with four-year institutions. Just 10% of respondents said that four-year institutions provided an affordable education while 58% thought community colleges did.
The figures for value for money are 15% for four-year and 55% for two-year colleges, respectively and for teaching relevant skills, 40% and 61%.
The only area where two-year colleges scored less than 50% was to the question about respecting all points of view: only 36% thought they did.
UWN
