Confidence in colleges and universities hits new lows, per FIRE polls

FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) ^ | 06/30/2024 | Nathan Honeycutt

[SeekAndFind]

Young people, women, and Democrats reported the largest drops.

Confidence in higher education has plummeted to its lowest level ever according to the results of two new national polls commissioned by FIRE and conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. 

In two AmeriSpeak panels representative of the U.S. household population, we asked Americans: “How much confidence, if any, do you have in U.S. colleges and universities?” 

This question was first asked in February and then again in May, and its wording is similar to a question posed by Gallup in Summer 2023 when Americans were asked about their confidence in “higher education.”

Per the polls, American confidence in higher education has plummeted over the past year, reaching record lows after months of campus protests over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Congressional hearings about anti-Semitism on college campuses. 

American confidence in higher education continues to slide

On average, most Americans surveyed in FIRE’s May poll reported “some” confidence in U.S. colleges and universities (42% vs. 40% in Gallup). But compared to the 2023 Gallup poll, fewer Americans reported “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in colleges and universities (28% vs. 36% in Gallup), and more Americans reported “very little” confidence or “none at all” (30% vs. 22% in Gallup).

How does confidence in higher education compare to confidence in other institutions? According to Gallup, Americans report similar levels of confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court (27%) and banks (26%). In the extremes, though, Americans are far more confident in small businesses (65%) and the military (60%) than they are in colleges and universities. They are far less confident in Congress (8%), television news (14%), and the criminal justice system (17%).

[SeekAndFind]