Preface

We have entered year three of a global pandemic. Last year, with the advent of COVID-19 vaccines, it felt as though the tide was turning on all of the disruptions the coronavirus has wrought on the world. Unfortunately, it has proved pernicious, mutating in ways that put a more normal, post-pandemic world just out of our grasp.

Meanwhile, our economy has been running red hot, leading to inflation at rates not seen for many decades. While a nationwide labor movement has resulted in the proliferation of unionized workers and increased wages, Americans remain uneasy about their economic prospects over the next year as inflation eats away at their savings and earnings. The Federal Reserve has been trying to tamp down inflation by raising interest rates, making it more expensive, and therefore challenging, for people to borrow money. A recession is likely on the horizon.

When a recession comes, Americans face not much by way of relief from the federal government. Policymaking in Washington has ground to a halt as the bipartisan appetite for crisis spending during the height of the pandemic recedes in the wake of inflation. In the fall, Americans will be heading to the polls and their dissatisfaction with federal policymakers will likely lead to a shift in which party holds Congress. Republicans probably will take control of the House of Representatives and increase their numbers in the Senate, making it an even more challenging policy environment for getting things done.

This is our new normal, where Americans face headwinds from multiple directions, leading pessimism to abound. According to the General Social Survey from NORC at the University of Chicago,¹ the share of Americans who said they are not too happy surpassed those saying they were very happy for the first time since data were collected in 1972.² It will take a Herculean effort to turn sentiments around, since few obvious positive developments are on the horizon. All we can do is hope for a better time.

This pessimism must be kept in mind when reading this year’s Varying Degrees survey. Our data were collected in April and May 2022, as warning signs in the economy grew stronger and were seen as not completely related to the pandemic. Despite this, the results of this year’s survey show that even though the future remains uncertain and positive feelings about higher education have waned a bit, Americans still value higher education overall and believe that it will help their children, and the nation, secure economic success. For this reason, they believe that opportunities after high school should be well funded by state and federal governments, and that schools which receive federal dollars must be held accountable.

We now have six years of data that help us understand the impact that national events have on the opinions of Americans about education after high school. As we look forward to an unknown future, it is important to understand where Americans stand on higher education and how it can be used as a tool to achieve economic growth and prosperity during times of economic downturn.