Conservatives, don't give up on going to college. Work to reform higher education.
Despite universities’ deepening ideological homogeneity, a major political party withdrawing from higher education poses a risk to American democracy.
It’s no secret that Republicans have lost faith in higher education. But the decline is both more recent and more dramatic than many people realize.
Despite universities’ obvious failings and deepening ideological homogeneity, a major political party withdrawing from higher education poses a risk to American democracy itself.
Republicans aren’t just losing faith in the institution. Many Republicans say a college education is simply not worth it. In a September survey by the Public Religion Research Institute, only 37% of Republicans say a college education is a smart investment in the future: a 15-point decline from 2016 when more than half (52%) offered this assessment. In 2019, only 33% of Republicans in a Pew survey said colleges and universities have a positive effect on the country, a drop from 54% in 2015.