Executive Summary

It has been eight years since we started the Varying Degrees annual survey to follow how Americans think about higher education. Over the years, the survey has showcased layers of public opinion on complex issues related to college value, funding, and accountability. It might sound conflicting, but even when Americans are not happy with higher education, a majority still see the value of gaining a postsecondary credential and would like to see greater state and federal funding to make college more affordable.

However, the 2024 survey, which samples 1,705 adults, shows that Americans’ confidence in the current state of higher education is trending downward. Only 36 percent of Americans think higher education is fine how it is (see image below). Seventy-five percent of Americans think higher education offers a good return on investment for the student, compared to nearly 80 percent in 2019. The share of Americans who think that higher education is having a positive impact on the way things are going in the country today has dropped by 16 percentage points since 2019, to just 54 percent. Having said that, more than 70 percent of Americans still want their children or family members to earn at least some postsecondary education (see image below). More than 75 percent think that the value of an associate and a bachelor’s degree is worth it even if students need to borrow to attend.

Cost continues to be a pain point when it comes to enrolling in college. We added questions to this year’s survey to understand how the public perceives the issue of affordability and whether it thinks the state and federal government should step in to make higher education more affordable. The survey found that more than 80 percent of Americans believe that the cost of attending colleges or universities is the biggest factor that blocks any individual from enrolling. And while fewer Americans think that the responsibility of funding college should fall on the government compared to previous years (see image below), they still see a role for federal and state government in making public higher education more affordable, either through increasing need-based grants or creating a federal-state partnership to make public colleges tuition-free.

The survey findings show that even when Americans’ confidence in the state of higher education might be shaky, hope is not lost: there are approaches institutions and policymakers can take to restore public trust.

Other findings include:

1. Democrats and Republicans are aligned on a few higher education issues, despite their differences in many policy areas. Both groups similarly do not think higher education is fine right now (36 and 39 percent of Democrats and Republicans, respectively) and agree that cost is the biggest barrier to enrollment for most individuals (87 and 78 percent of Democrats and Republicans, respectively).
2. Americans would like to see candidates address the issue of college affordability in the coming election. More than 70 percent of them (85 percent of Democrats and 66 percent of Republicans) said the candidates’ stance on higher education affordability will be important to their votes (see image below).
3. Americans continue to want greater transparency on key indicators of education quality, as in previous years. A majority of Americans agree that institutions should lose access to taxpayer dollars if students have poor outcomes.