By Graham Andrews and Amanda Shaffer
According to new Gallup research released on July 17, Americans’ confidence in higher education has increased for the first time in a decade – and after reaching historic lows last year.
The recent poll showed the share of Americans who have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education rose from 36% last year to 42% this year. The number of Americans who say they have “very little” or no confidence in higher education also declined – 23% of Americans expressed “very little” confidence in colleges and universities this year compared to 32% last year.
While the improved public opinion is a good sign for higher education, it is important to note that the percentage of Americans who now express high confidence in colleges and universities (42%) is still lower than it was in 2018 (48%), and much lower than it was in 2015 (57%).
The reported increase in confidence runs across many demographic characteristics, including educational attainment and racial identity. While confidence in higher education among college graduates rose six percentage points (to 48%), confidence among those without four-year degrees also increased by seven percentage points (to 40%). The survey included large samples of Black and Hispanic Americans; as in previous years, their levels of confidence in higher education are higher than the national average (at 49% and 50%, respectively).
Increases were also consistent across party lines. Confidence among Democrats rose by five points (to 61%) and among independents by six points (to 41%). Confidence among Republicans – who have driven much of the decline in confidence in higher education over the past decade – also rose by six points (to 26%).
Gallup and the Lumina Foundation also conducted a second study with Gallup’s web panel that explored more nuance in the public’s views of higher education. The study found that 76% of Americans agree that colleges and universities contribute to “greater innovation, including new scientific, medical and technological discoveries.” A majority of Americans (69%) also agree that colleges and universities prepare students for better careers. (These findings are consistent with AAU’s internal polling, which suggests that the American public values America’s leading research universities’ contributions to scientific and medical research as well as the career preparation they offer to students.)
When asked what would make them more confident in higher education, Americans suggested that colleges and universities should focus on useful or practical teaching, lowering costs, and being less political.
Over the past decade, Gallup has measured declining confidence among Americans in most of the country’s major institutions, including Congress, news media, and big businesses. Higher education has largely followed this trend – but it has also experienced the largest decline in public confidence among the institutions that respondents were asked about. Gallup should soon release new data on Americans’ confidence in institutions that will tell us whether the increase in confidence in higher education is unique to the industry or indicative of a broader rebound in trust in American institutions.
Graham Andrews is research analyst at AAU; Amanda Shaffer is junior research analyst at AAU.