Confidence in Higher Education has plummeted almost 20% over the past 9 years in the US, according to a new poll.
In 2015, 57% of Americans surveyed in the Gallup-Lumina Poll said they had high confidence in higher education, while 11% had little or no confidence – but this had dropped to 36% with high confidence and 32% with little or no confidence when the survey was repeated this year.
The research found a strong correlation between political affiliation and HE affection, with those in the little or no confidence bracket rising from 11% to 50% over the past nine years.
Given the Australian Government’s concerns that HE institutions were jeopardising their social licence by enrolling too many international students, university and TAFE leaders would no doubt be interested to see whether similar attitudes towards tertiary education prevail here.
The US survey found that those that valued HE did so because they believed in the importance of education and good quality tuition. International student concerns did not appear among the beefs of those who didn’t value HE, with concerns about political agendas, not teaching the ‘right’ things and cost topping the list of concerns.
