For many years, a large number of Americans had a positive view of our higher education system. Then, due largely to federal meddling, the system began a long decline, with costs rising and educational quality falling. Early in this century, polls began to show falling confidence in and support for higher education among Republicans who saw that higher ed was turning into an arm of the Democratic Party.
And now, we are finding that even Democrats are turning skeptical about higher education. In today’s Martin Center article, Reagan Allen looks at the trends.
She writes:
Distrust in higher education, it seems, is no longer a Republican concern. Just 38% of Americans expressed a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in higher education, and even college graduates are hardly big fans: only 43% expressed high confidence. Americans, not just Democrats, seem to be more skeptical regarding higher education. Among Americans who lack confidence in higher education, 31% pointed to political agendas, 30% cited cost, and 25% said colleges are not adequately preparing students for the workforce.
Furthermore, among college graduates, we see increasing numbers who say that their college years (and money) were not worth it.
Read the whole thing.