Confidence in higher education has reached a new low, according to a new poll from Gallup. The survey found declines in confidence in all surveyed demographic groups from 2015 to 2023, with Republicans experiencing the sharpest decline.
According to the survey, which polled around 1,000 adults on their confidence level in 16 different American institutions, only 36 percent of respondents reported that they had a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education—a drop of 21 points since 2015 and 12 points since 2018.
Democrats were the only group surveyed where a majority (59 percent) reported having a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education. However, this still marked a nine-point decline in confidence levels from 2015. Republicans experienced the sharpest decline in confidence in higher education since 2015, declining from a 56 percent confidence rate to only 19 percent in 2023.
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