Poll: Majority Say US Universities Headed Down Wrong Path

Fifty-two percent of Americans say the nation’s higher education system is generally headed in the wrong direction, according to a poll by the think tank Populace.

Here are how the results of the poll break down:

• 15% say given universities’ responses to the coronavirus, their opinion of American universities has become more positive. 62% say it has stayed the same, while 12% say it is it has become more negative.
• 27% believe it is necessary to have a degree to achieve the American dream today, while 66% say it is not.
• 50% of college graduates say their decision to enroll was motivated primarily to earn access to better job prospects.
• 40% of those who did not enroll say their primary reason was that they could not afford it.
• 42% say that when universities reopen they expect the quality of the experience to be worse than before the pandemic, compared to 14% who say it will be better and 33% who expect it to be the same.

The poll, conducted May 28-June 9, surveyed 2,785 people. No margin of error was provided.

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