New polling from Gallup has found that Americans’ confidence in higher education is at a historic low, which should come as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention.
Colleges and universities have become little more than left-wing indoctrination centers, and while confidence is low, the price is way up.
Inside Higher Ed reports:
American Confidence in Higher Ed Hits Historic LowAmericans’ confidence in higher education is at an all-time low, according to a Gallup poll released today.The poll was conducted in June and found only 36 percent of Americans have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education, down about 20 percentage points from eight years ago. Prior measurements of public confidence in the nation’s colleges and universities found significantly higher levels in 2015 (57 percent) and 2018 (48 percent).Researchers and education policy experts say college and university administrators and other higher ed officials should take notice of the sharp decline, especially because it was consistently high among all major subgroups of those polled.The experts also noted, however, that the survey data are in line with other measurements of the overall decline of public trust in institutions as a whole.
That last point is absolutely correct. Confidence is down across many of our institutions. Professor Jacobson recently wrote extensively about that very topic.
Here’s more on the higher education poll, directly from Gallup:
Americans’ Confidence in Higher Education Down SharplyAmericans’ confidence in higher education has fallen to 36%, sharply lower than in two prior readings in 2015 (57%) and 2018 (48%). In addition to the 17% of U.S. adults who have “a great deal” and 19% “quite a lot” of confidence, 40% have “some” and 22% “very little” confidence.The latest decline in the public’s trust in higher education is from a June 1-22 Gallup poll that also found confidence in 16 other institutions has been waning in recent years. Many of these entities, which are tracked more often than higher education, are now also at or near their lowest points in confidence. Although diminished, higher education ranks fourth in confidence among the 17 institutions measured, with small business, the military and the police in the top three spots. This was also the case in 2018, the last time higher education was included in the list of institutions.In 2015, majorities of Americans in all key subgroups expressed confidence in higher education, with one exception — independents (48%). By 2018, though, confidence had fallen across all groups, with the largest drop, 17 percentage points, among Republicans. In the latest measure, confidence once again fell across the board, but Republicans’ sank the most — 20 points to 19%, the lowest of any group. Confidence among adults without a college degree and those aged 55 and older dropped nearly as much as Republicans’ since 2018.
If higher education wants to turn this around, they might start by emphasizing the importance of free speech, and not shouting down campus speakers as part of an angry mob. Just a thought.
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