August 7, 2024

According to a poll released by Gallup and the Lumina Foundation, only 36% of adults say they have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education, which is a decline from 57% in 2016. The June 2024 survey’s overall finding that 36% of adults feel strong confidence in higher education is unchanged from 2023. However, what researchers find notable is shifting opinion on the bottom end, with fewer Americans saying they have “some” confidence and more reporting “very little” and “none.” This year’s findings show almost as many people have little or no confidence – 32% – as those with high confidence.

The reasons for the decline in confidence include feelings that college is too expensive, that students are not being properly educated or taught what they need to succeed, and that college is headed in the “wrong direction” amid concerns about political indoctrination. Notably, 49% of adults say they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in two-year institutions, compared with 33% of Americans who feel that way about four-year colleges.

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