Young Adults’ Public and Private Support for Higher Education in America

Abstract Given recent media attention and political narratives questioning the value of higher education, we survey young Americans about their attitudes towards college. We explore two dimensions of attitudes towards college – higher education as a private good and as a public good. We find most young people still believe most of their peers should go to college, and most want their children to go to college, although there are meaningful differences across demographic groups and different student experiences, with practical and political implications. We find evidence suggesting that exposure to higher education and providing students with adequate information during their own college search process may be meaningful predictors of young adults’ attitudes about college.