Executive Summary

Varying Degrees is New America’s nationally representative annual survey on how Americans feel about educational opportunities after high school.¹ This year marks its fifth anniversary. We now have five years of trend data that show that Americans believe in the value of education after high school, that they want it to be more adequately funded by state and federal governments, and that colleges should be held accountable for that investment. Looking over our data over five tumultuous years—in which we saw two challenging presidential elections, including an insurrection; a global pandemic; economic recovery and recession; culture wars on campus; and a nationwide racial reckoning—it is remarkable how little fundamental beliefs about education after high school have changed. As in previous years of the survey, we focus on the general population overall, and highlight findings based on political party identification and other demographics.

Even though many Americans have maintained consistency in their views about educational opportunities after high school, there are signs from some questions that this past year, in all its particularities, has revealed some simmering pessimism. In early 2020, 69 percent of Americans said that colleges and universities were having a positive effect on the way things were going. Just one year later, that view has fallen to 58 percent.

The past year has been incredibly difficult in the lives of all Americans. As we begin to recover from the pandemic and the economic recession, educational opportunities after high school will be important to economic recovery and the undertaking of a new normal in this country. President Biden and a new Democratic Congress are looking to tackle some of the most difficult issues facing students and borrowers: affordability and loan forgiveness, funding, accountability, and the impact of COVID-19.

Our key findings this year:

• Education after high school continues to offer a good return on investment and prepares a strong American workforce. Approximately three in four Americans believe that higher education offers a good return on investment, and about 80 percent believe that public colleges and universities prepare a strong American workforce.
• The quality of online education, however, is questionable compared to in-person instruction and should be less expensive. Over half (61 percent), believe that the quality of online education is worse than in-person instruction, and four in five Americans believe online programs should be less expensive than in-person programs.
• Americans are mixed about whether students have affordable access to education after high school. Americans are divided on whether someone can get a high-quality education after high school that is also affordable (48 percent agree).
• Americans want colleges to be transparent about their outcomes, and they want them to be held accountable for taxpayer investment. Overwhelmingly, 93 percent of Americans say it is important for institutions to provide publicly-available data on student outcomes.
• Americans believe President Biden and Congress should prioritize free community college when it comes to higher education policy. While no one policy of those listed were prioritized by the majority of Americans, two in five Americans (41 percent) backed some form of tuition-free college (either two- or four-years) as the most important priority.
• A majority of Americans think that those colleges and universities that decided to hold in-person classes fall 2020 made the right decision. Just over half (57 percent) of Americans believe that it was the right decision for some colleges to bring back students for in-person learning for the 2020–21 academic year.
• Americans do not believe standardized test scores should figure prominently in admissions decisions. Approximately 66 percent of Americans agreed with the decision of many colleges and universities to go test blind or test optional this year. Only 7 percent of those who agreed with going test optional this year want standardized test scores to be a critical piece of information in admissions decisions moving forward.
• Americans widely support discharging student loan debt for those students who attended schools that misrepresented their programs or outcomes. A majority of Americans (79 percent), across party lines, agree that borrowers should have their student debt canceled if their college or university misrepresented information about their programs of study or student outcomes.