Democrats and Republicans both see a need for improvements in higher education. But they also really like their local colleges and universities.
Those are two of the key findings from polling by New America, a research organization that on Monday released its second annual survey of views on higher education.
The survey results, based on responses from 1,600 randomly selected adults, are largely similar to the findings of last year’s poll, which showed deep support for community colleges and the belief that a college degree leads to better job opportunities than a high-school diploma does. The poll, conducted in January and February on landlines and cellphones, has a margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.
While the 2017 poll focused on how people in different generations viewed colleges and the value of a degree, this year’s poll sought to identify distinctions across partisan political lines. The results suggest a more nuanced view of higher education than is sometimes portrayed in other polls and through the news media, said Rachel Fishman, deputy director for higher-education research at New America.
For example, a 2017 poll by the Pew Research Center found that 58 percent of Republicans said higher education had a negative effect on the United States.
New America’s latest survey found that 78 percent of Republicans had a positive view of the colleges near them, compared with 84 percent of Democrats. In addition, some 60 percent of Republicans were comfortable with using their taxes to support higher education, according to New America.
But within those findings there are also some differences, the poll found. A majority of Republicans, 52 percent, believed students should fund their own higher education because it is a personal benefit. Meanwhile, 76 percent of Democrats believed government should spend tax revenue on higher education because it is a good for society.
“The priorities of either party cannot be reduced to a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in terms of government investment in education beyond high school,” Fishman said in a news release about the poll.
Support for Community Colleges
New America focused this year’s poll on partisan views as the nation prepares for midterm elections this fall that could change the balance of power on Capitol Hill. And after the elections, it’s possible that Congress will consider the long-delayed reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
A bill to accomplish that renewal of the key federal law has already been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, but there is little chance that the U.S. Senate will consider such legislation this year.
The overall findings of this year’s survey from New America are not significantly different, in most regards, from its previous survey. In particular, only a quarter of those polled said that higher education was fine as it is.
Forty-two percent of Democrats and 33 percent of Republicans said college was too expensive.
This year’s survey dug deeper into that question to discover why people were so dissatisfied. Not surprisingly, the top response to that question, from more than 38 percent of those surveyed, was that college was too expensive. Forty-two percent of Democrats and 33 percent of Republicans gave that answer to the open-ended question.
Overall nearly 20 percent indicated that there should be greater government support for higher education: Nearly 12 percent said college should be free for everyone, and more than 8 percent said the government should increase spending on higher education.
Other top reasons cited by Republicans for change include 12 percent who said there is always room for improvement and 11 percent who said instructors were not doing their jobs.
Among Democrats, 13 percent said college should be free, and 12 percent said there is always room for improvement.
As in last year’s poll, community colleges drew clear and consistent support. This year the results showed that backing across partisan lines. Nearly 81 percent said community college was worth the cost, nearly 70 percent said the colleges were “for people like me,” and nearly 83 percent said they contributed to a strong American work force.
Those results are similar for both Democrats and Republicans, according to New America’s poll.
Fishman contrasted the findings with statements by President Trump, who has often said that people do not know what community colleges do, and has called for more vocational training.
“People know what community colleges are,” she said. “I think the nation gets it.”
Eric Kelderman writes about money and accountability in higher education, including such areas as state policy, accreditation, and legal affairs. You can find him on Twitter @etkeld, or email him at eric.kelderman@chronicle.com.
