Confidence in higher education institutions has decreased across all political parties, according to a new Gallup poll, but the decline has been especially striking among Republicans from 2015 up to today.
Gallup’s survey of 1,013 adults conducted in June found just 36% of Americans have confidence in higher education, a striking decline from 57% in 2015 and 48% in 2017.
Only 19% of Republicans said they have confidence in America’s higher education, down 37 points from 56% in 2015.
Democrats hold the highest rate of confidence in the higher education system at 59%, a 9-percentage point increase from 2015.
And independents’ confidence decreased by 16 percentage points, from 48% in 2015 to 32% in 2023.
The findings come at a significant moment ahead of the 2024 election, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and others pushing a GOP education agenda which has the potential to reshape the future of higher education.
Higher education has been a significant priority on the campaign trail for DeSantis, who has enacted policies to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the state level and proposed taking those changes national.
“We are putting a stop to woke ideology and DEI in higher education,” DeSantis said in a Twitter post in May.
The governor has continued to push Florida colleges to the right, signing three bills this year alone prohibiting general education courses focused on systematic racism, sexism, oppression and privilege from being taught, along with other bills that approach how faculty are hired and fired, and limits to spending on DEI education.
Education has turned into a major Republican campaign issue all over — not just in the presidential race. Virginia GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin, whose party is pushing to take over the state legislature this fall, is putting forth a conservative education agenda on the K-12 and higher education levels. He appointed conservative leaders at the University of Virginia such as Bert Ellis, who became a controversial figure to students at the university.