American views on higher education worsen, again

Just a quick post, as I’m on the road:

Americans now view higher education less favorably than we used to.

That’s the finding of a new Gallup poll. Gallup has run this poll several times in recent history, and the results show a depressing downward curve. The number of people who view academia very positively has been declining.

Americans’ confidence in higher education has fallen to 36%, sharply lower than in two prior readings in 2015 (57%) and 2018 (48%).

“Some” is growing, which is better than it could have been.

I am also concerned by how these attitudes break down by groups, including political party, age, gender, and educational attainment. The decline occurred across every one, albeit to different degrees:

(The numbers are for “% of U.S. adults with ‘a great deal’ or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education”. I couldn’t fit that legend into a screengrab.)

As you can see, Republicans, men, people over 55, and and those without a college degree are the most skeptical. Democrats, women, people under 35, and folks with postgraduate degrees are the most favorable.

This decrease in attitude may shape various aspects of academic-community relationships. Governmental funding (city, county…