Highlights of our findings include the following. (Click on each finding to read more.)
- Americans are losing confidence in the necessity of a college education for success in the workforce.
- Most Americans favor making public colleges free for students from low- and middle-income families. Democrats and Independents are much more likely than Republicans to say that this is a very or somewhat good idea.
- Job skills are an essential college outcome for most Americans, and they favor requiring colleges to do more for students’ career prospects.
- About 2 in 5 Americans are worried about cuts in state government funding of public colleges. But about 2 in 5 are also worried about colleges that waste their money.
- A majority of Americans are concerned about high schools that fail to prepare students for college-level work.
- Most Americans favor requiring colleges to publicly report graduation rates, though they are less likely to support penalizing colleges with low graduation and job placement rates.
