Three Changes To Higher Education That Both Republicans And Democrats Endorse

The vast majority of Americans - both Republicans and Democrats - value higher education as a good investment, a pathway to economic mobility, and a ticket to better job security. But two-thirds of Americans believe higher education is in need of substantial changes, and they tend to agree on specific reforms involving the goals of higher education, insitutional accountability and admissions to elite colleges.

Those are just a few of the findings of New America’s just-released Varying Degrees 2019: New America’s Third Annual Survey on Higher Education, based on a nationally representative survey of 2,029 Americans ages 18 and older. The survey covered topics such as Americans’ perceptions of higher education, its contribution to economic mobility, how state and federal government should fund it and what changes to it are preferred.

The results are reported in the aggregate, and also broken out by political party affiliation, generation (Zs, Millennials, Xers, Baby Boomers and Silent Generation) and race. In contrast to other recent surveys showing big partisan divides in opinions about higher education, New America reports large majorities of both Republicans and Democrats believe that higher education offers:

• a good return on investment for students (80% of Democrats and 78% of Republicans agreeing);
• a pathway for upward mobility (93% of Democrats and 91% of Republicans agreeing);
• better prospects for well-paying, stable careers (89% of Democrats and 88% of Republicans believe a B.A. provides this advantage).

Where party ID did matter was in response to questions about who is most responsible for funding higher education. About two-thirds of Americans (63%) believe that the government is most responsible because advanced education is “good for society.” While 80% of Democrats and 70% of independents agreed with that view, only 37% of Republicans did so; instead, 59% of Republicans believed students should assume most of the burden “because they personally benefit.” Nonetheless, Republicans still agree that both state (71%) and federal (64%) government should “spend more taxpayer dollars on education opportunities after high school to make them more affordable.”

Desired changes

Only one-third of the respondents believe “higher education in America is fine how it is.” The perceived need for change transcends political party, generation and race, but Democrats tend to be less satisfied with higher education (26%) than either Republicans or independents (41%).

New America found three areas where respondents believed changes were needed.

1. Emphasizing the practical goals of college. More than a third of respondents (36%) believed that supporting “learning and development towards lifelong careers” was the most important thing colleges and universities can do. This was followed by preparing students to enter the job market or graduate school (28%) and teaching work-related skills and knowledge (22%). Disappointing to those who view a college education as a journey to becoming a generally better informed individual with a richer life of the mind, assisting students with personal and intellectual growth (11%) and promoting an engaged citizenry (3%) received little support. In fact, across party lines, “promoting an engaged citizenry” was judged to the be the least important goal of higher education (agreed to by 52% of Democrats, 57% of Republicans and 52% of independents).
2. Holding institutions accountable. Nine of ten Americans believe colleges and universities should provide publicly available data on their student outcomes so they can be held accountable in meaningful ways. In fact, the majority of respondents - regardless of political party or age - support policies that would take away some taxpayer support from institutions that have low graduation rates (80% agree), high student loan default rates (64% agree), and low rates of graduates earning a living wage (77% agree).
3. Reforming admissions to elite colleges. The survey was conducted after the news of the Varsity Blues admissions scandal had broken, which may account for the degree to which respondents objected to the major categories of admission preferences extended by selective colleges and universities. And object they did. Almost two-thirds (63%) did not agree with “legacy admissions,” the practice of giving preference to descendants of an institution’s alumni. More than half (57%) gave a thumbs-down to relaxing a college’s admissions standards for varsity athletes. And 74% believed that race/ethnicity should not factor into admissions standards, even when academic and extracurricular qualifications were equal. Can there by any doubt how they’d react to revelations that some universities consider the donation histories of applicants’ families when make admission decisions?

Although political affiliation is clearly linked to current opinions about higher education, with Republicans generally much more skeptical or even suspicious about the impact of colleges and universities than Democrats or independents, the results from the New America survey show a surprising degree of uniformity about the directions that Americans, in general, would like to see higher education take.

College leaders should take heed. Most Americans still believe in the value of higher education, especially in terms of its economic benefits. But they also see the need for changes in goals, accountability and admission practices. The level of agreement about these changes suggests that they are not going away. It’s time to take them seriously.