American Public Support for Higher Education in the Trump Era

Political science researchers have devoted little attention to studying public opinion toward higher education, an oversight we address in this review of recent opinion trends. We demonstrate the complexity of public attitudes toward higher education, which reflect a paradox: declining confidence and negative assessments of the sector have combined with positive ratings for college degrees and for the medical and scientific breakthroughs that occur on college campuses. Partisans are polarized in their broad assessment of higher education and the presence of political bias in the classroom, but they are far less divided on other aspects of higher education, indicating that only some attitudes toward higher education have become politicized in the Trump era. The study of public opinion toward higher education sheds light on a policy area of growing political importance and underscores its potential as a rich topic for political behavior researchers.