Introduction

This midterm election year, with many members of Congress retiring and President Trump’s approval ratings among the lowest of any modern president at this point in his tenure, it is clear that change is coming.¹ Once the votes are counted, members of Congress, both new and longtime members, will be tasked with updating signature pieces of legislation. Since it has been 10 years since the last reauthorization of Higher Education Act, the law that governs most federal higher-education policy including financial aid, its reauthorization is likely to be high on the priority list.

How Americans feel about higher education will help inform policy and funding decisions that affect current and prospective college students and their families. This is why nationally representative survey data focused on higher education are so important. New America’s own survey data this year show that only one in four Americans thinks higher education is fine the way it is, indicating that higher education, for a variety of reasons—from concerns about affordability to quality of education to employment outcomes—is not delivering on its promise.

In terms of American sentiment by political party identification, a lot of headlines have been made from recent survey data that show Republicans in particular feel negatively about higher education. According to a survey from Pew, over half of Republicans (58 percent) believe higher education is having a negative impact on the way things are going in this country, compared with 19 percent of Democrats.² A survey from Gallup showed that two-thirds of Republicans only had some or very little confidence in higher education, compared with 43 percent of Democrats who felt that way.³

Are Republicans souring on higher education? The answer is more mixed than headlines would have people believe. Our data show that a slight majority of Republicans (52 percent) believes students should fund their own higher education because it is a personal benefit compared with 76 percent of Democrats who believe government should spend tax revenue on higher education because it is good for society. However, approximately three out of five Republicans are comfortable with their taxes going to support higher education. And although Pew data showed that Republicans believe higher education is having a negative impact on the way things are going in this country, New America’s data show that 78 percent of Republicans feel positive about the colleges and universities located near them.

Although New America’s survey explores opinions across multiple demographics and year-over-year changes, these data by party identification are important for understanding higher education in an election year. They shed light on the similarities and differences among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents on their thoughts and feelings about the value of higher education and how it should be funded.