National Attitudes Toward Higher Education
This study included a survey of 502 people nationwide, using a shorter survey instrument which included only a subset of the California questions. The study also included a review of existing public opinion survey data on higher education.
Our main reason for collecting this data was to put the California findings in perspective (see page 9: A National Comparison.) But the national findings tell an important and interesting story in their own right. Most of the concerns expressed by Californians are expressed by other Americans as well. The concerns differ in degree, rather than in kind.
Nationally, there is nearly universal agreement that a college education is an important gateway to a good job. Nearly eight out of ten Americans (79 percent) are convinced that high school graduates should go to college "because in the long run they will have better job prospects." An even larger percent (89 percent) feel that society should not allow lack of money to prevent a qualified and motivated student from getting a college education.
As in California, this support for the importance of a college degree, however, does not mean that people are sold on the intrinsic value and importance of a college education. Seventy-seven percent of Amer-icans think it is a problem that many young people are "wasting their time and money in college because they don't know what to do with their lives," and 54 percent think that it is a problem that "too many people are going to college instead of alternatives to college where they can learn trades like plumbing or computer repair." The same dilemma troubling Californians seems to exist nationwide: A college degree may just be a piece of paper, but without that piece of paper, a young person will find his or her financial prospects very limited.
Both this study and other national studies show considerable concern about the escalating cost of higher education. A 1991 ABC News/Washington Post survey found that 65 percent of Americans say that they worry a great deal about the perception that a "good college education is becoming too expensive." This study found that 60 percent of Americans believe that currently, many qualified students do not have the opportunity to go to college.
There is also a strong sense that opportunity to attend college is decreasing and that the situation will continue to worsen. Fifty-five percent say that it is more difficult to get a college education than it was ten years ago, and an even greater number (66 percent) think that it will be even more difficult ten years from now.
Clearly, Americans are starting to worry about this problem and want something to be done about it. Forty-one percent report a high level of concern about higher education in their state (even compared with other issues such as the economy and health care), and an even higher percentage (54 percent) think that higher education in their state needs a fundamental overhaul.
The quality of higher education is obviously not the preeminent concern. A majority (54 percent) say that public higher education institutions in their state are "teaching students the important things they need to know." What seems to be driving the concerns for a basic overhaul is a sense that an increasingly important good (higher education) is becoming less and less accessible.
When it comes to solutions, national attitudes are virtually identical to those in California. Specifically, the public's thinking seems to be driven by three main values: opportunity, motivation, and reciprocity. Eighty-nine percent think that qualified and motivated students should not be denied an opportunity to attend a college or university merely because of the cost. A large majority (71 percent) also believe that the benefit of attending college depends much more on individual effort (motivation) than on the quality of the college. Finally, 76 percent believe that students don't really appreciate the value of a college education unless they are involved in paying for it themselves (reciprocity).
National public attitudes toward changes in college education are also guided by the same primary values: opportunity, motivation, and reciprocity. Respondents in the national sample were asked to consider three different scenarios that state colleges and universities might use to compensate for cutbacks in state funding. Resistance was highest to ideas which reduced access to higher education: 53 percent thought that raising college prices was a poor idea and 51 percent said that admitting fewer students was a poor idea. By contrast, the public is much more open to the idea of increasing the number of students that professors teach. Only 32 percent rated this as a poor idea.
The primary values of opportunity, reciprocity, and motivation also guide the public's thinking about the best means to help students pay for their college education. The most appealing approach is providing students with opportunities to work for financial aid to pay for their own education. Eighty percent think that we should use this approach more often. Surveys taken during the 1992 presidential election showed extremely high support for candidate Clinton's ideas for using national service as a way to pay for college education. A 1992 CBS News/New York Times survey found that 82 percent support the idea that government should provide "loans to college students that they could pay back either by deductions from paychecks or by two years of national service."
Student loans are popular even when they are not linked to national service since they provide opportunity while requiring students to pay for their own education. Sixty-two percent think student loans should be used more often as a way to support college education. At the same time, there are deep concerns about loans. Ninety-one percent of Americans are concerned that too many students take out college loans and never pay them back and 81 percent think that it is a problem that students borrow two much money.
The idea of giving money directly to colleges has somewhat less support. Fifty-two percent think this method should be used more frequently. Giving money directly to students is the least popular idea. Forty-three percent think this idea should be used more often; 31 percent say that it should be used less often and 22 percent say it should be used the same amount. Obviously, Americans support the idea of helping students go to college, but direct grants contradict the value of reciprocity.