Good morning, and welcome to Tuesday, September 5. Rick Seltzer wrote today’s Briefing. Julia Piper compiled Comings and Goings. Get in touch: rick.seltzer@chronicle.com.

Our exclusive poll reveals a mixed bag for colleges

Exclusive new polling by The Chronicle suggests Americans still believe that college credentials have value, even as many hold reservations about higher education’s track record of benefiting society and educating students, our Eric Kelderman reports.

People would generally tell a close friend or relative that getting a college degree is worth it, according to a national survey conducted for The Chronicle. Almost eight in 10 respondents said they’d tell a close friend to seek a bachelor’s degree. Even among those who thought their own associate or bachelor’s degree wasn’t worthwhile, 57 percent would tell a friend to go for a bachelor’s.

Success breeds satisfaction. Almost 80 percent of those with a college degree say it was worth the cost. That increases to 88 percent for those from high-income households earning above $100,000.

But wait. Respondents were tepid when asked how well colleges were fulfilling key parts of their missions.

• Only 30 percent said colleges were doing an excellent or very good job leveling the playing field for success.
• Just 40 percent said colleges are excellent or very good at educating students.
• 🚨 A flashing red light: Those with more education felt worse about colleges’ ability to educate students than did those with a high-school degree or less.

Partisanship matters. Republicans and conservatives were less likely to have positive feelings about higher education on many counts than Democrats and liberals.

College alternatives draw major support. Almost 90 percent of respondents said trade schools would be the same as or better than a college degree at helping someone achieve a successful livelihood. Similar shares said the same about work apprenticeships and other professional and technical training.

Quotable: “The mentality that an undergraduate education is essential to teach you to think is garbage,” said Richard Davenport, 45, a Lutheran pastor in Arkansas with a doctorate who took part in the survey and agreed to talk about it afterward. Davenport expects his own children to go to college but said trade schools provide important training, too.

• About the survey: Langer Research Associates conducted a random representative survey of 1,025 U.S. adults, using the SSRS Opinion Panel. The survey is part of an ongoing Chronicle project to examine public perceptions of higher education.

The bigger picture: Colleges still have reservoirs of public support to tap, but they can’t expect to win more hearts and minds merely by telling their stories better. Higher ed’s skeptics include many people who’ve passed through campuses, suggesting business as usual won’t cut it — even when it comes to the core work of educating students.

Read Eric’s full story here.

Quick hits

• Rice Pride offers services to Texas public-college students: The student-run LGBTQ group at the private university is offering safe-sex products, health-care recommendations, and support to public-college students in the wake of a new state law banning diversity, equity, and inclusion offices at public colleges. (KTRK, The Chronicle)
• Class of 2024 burnout: Eight in 10 undergraduates set to graduate next spring said they have felt burned out at least sometimes during college, according to a survey of 1,148 students released by the job platform Handshake. More than half said they’ll owe student debt when they graduate, and 69 percent said their debt will influence the jobs they consider. (Handshake)
• Who are chief diversity officers? Almost half of CDOs are first-generation college graduates and two-thirds hold a Ph.D. or professional degree, found a survey of 261 people with the title. Nearly a third have annual operating budgets of $39,000 or less, and 44 percent have two or fewer direct reports. The survey comes amid a conservative backlash that’s prompted closure of many campus diversity, equity, and inclusion offices. (National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, The Chronicle)

Stat of the day

35,655 student workers

That’s how many joined collective-bargaining units over 18 months, according to a report released Friday by the City University of New York’s School of Labor and Urban Studies. They joined some 30 new bargaining units over that time, compared with just 21 units organized between 2013 and 2021.

Our Erin Gretzinger has more.

3 questions with a reporter: Why has it been so hard for the U. of Phoenix to find a home?

Our Taylor Swaak recently dug into the quest to sell the University of Phoenix. The giant online for-profit is moving toward a tie-up with the University of Idaho after University of Arkansas system trustees threw a wrench into a proposed deal there. Taylor answered three questions for The Daily Briefing to shed more light on the saga and where things stand.

What is one thing everyone should know about this acquisition?

That it’s still very much in the works. While the University of Idaho’s Board of Regents approved the creation of a nonprofit to purchase the University of Phoenix back in May, approval from both Phoenix’s accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission, and the U. of Idaho’s accreditor, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, is required for closing. Official approval is months away.

What two things surprised you when you were reporting?

I’m new to the merger-and-acquisition space, so most things surprised me! To cite two:

1. Just how complicated mergers and acquisitions in the higher-ed sector are right now: trying to predict where new Education Department regulations will land, having the right financial documents on hand within set time frames, etc. When lawyers who have done this work for decades say, “This is tough,” that says something.
2. Sources’ candor in acknowledging the tension between private business and public education — and the admission that there isn’t a clear solution to addressing that discord.

What three questions are you still asking?

1. Why did the U. of Phoenix and U. of Idaho partnership move forward as quickly as it did? Did it just come down to meeting a deadline to submit an application to accreditors? Or were there other factors?
2. How is the latest news of the Education Department agreeing to discharge $72 million in student loan debt for former Ashford University students influencing how U. of Idaho leadership is thinking through potential liability risks to the institution?
3. What happens if a lawsuit against the Idaho State Board of Education drags on? How will that impact the accreditor approval process?

Bonus question: Who was the other “highly reputable state university system” that was reportedly in competition with the U. of Idaho and U. of Arkansas system to acquire Phoenix?

Read Taylor’s full story here.

Comings and goings

• M. Leslie Davidson, vice president for enrollment at Beloit College, in Wisconsin, has been named vice president for enrollment management at Franklin & Marshall College, in Pennsylvania.
• Julie Greenwood,vice dean for educational initiatives in EdPlus at Arizona State University, has been named dean of Continuing and Professional Education at the University of California at Davis.
• Jennifer Brown, dean of the Quinnipiac University School of Law, plans to step down in June 2024.

To submit a new-hire announcement, email people@chronicle.com.

Footnote

A few weeks ago, I wrote about coffee grown at Whittier College, in California. That prompted Fritz Weis, former president of Scripps College, also in California, to suggest another foodstuffs footnote.

Scripps says olive trees have graced its campus since the college’s formation in 1926, and student activism has taken root because of them. In May 1968, students protested building plans that would have destroyed campus gardens. As the college puts it today, students “took to the trees” to stop them from coming down. In a compromise, 60 of the trees were dug up and replanted to make way for a humanities building.

In 2007, a course on the politics and culture of food prompted students to look into making olive oil from the trees. Five years later, students and employees harvested more than 1,500 pounds of olives.

That first batch was reportedly “fruity, buttery, and smooth, with a good bite and an olive note.” Hopefully you found this to be a smooth olive (foot)note, as well.

For more on collegiate products from The Chronicle archive: Check out this 2004 review of the bottled water sold by colleges.