Home News The Public’s Support for (and Doubts About) Higher Ed – Inside Higher Ed

The Public’s Support for (and Doubts About) Higher Ed – Inside Higher Ed

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Survey of likely 2020 voters shows they view colleges favorably but increasingly question whether they’re delivering on promises. It also suggests a disconnect between priorities of politicians and the public.

Nuance is a good thing, and it tends to help improve our understanding of complex issues and public policy questions. Unfortunately, our political discourse and, increasingly, news media coverage seem less and less inclined to traffic in it.

Take some of the key issues in postsecondary education right now. Most political speeches or media coverage would leave you with the impression that Americans believe college degrees aren’t worth the money, that Democrats overwhelmingly support free college as the answer to the college affordability problem, and that Republicans don’t care about holding colleges and universities (especially for-profit ones) accountable.

Turns out none of those things are really true — or at least that the public’s true attitudes are much more nuanced than that.

The picture that emerges from Third Way’s comprehensive survey of nearly 1,400 Americans who describe themselves as likely to vote in the 2020 general election is of a public that still believes in the value of colleges and universities and their degrees and thinks the institutions must do a better job of educating students affordably and effectively.

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