Finding One: A college or university education is essential for a decent job and a middle-class lifestyle.

Californians are more convinced than ever of the importance of a college education. As noted in The Closing Gateway, most Californians view a college education as they once viewed a high school diploma: a necessary entrance ticket to a secure middle-class lifestyle. When people say this they do not necessarily mean that a young person has to have a degree from a four-year institution (our survey specifically instructed respondents to include community colleges in their definition of higher education), but they are convinced that without an education beyond high school, a young person is unlikely to get a good job. Specifically, by a margin of more than six to one (78 percent to 12 percent), Californians believe that young people will improve their job prospects by going on to college rather than going from high school into a job (see Figure One).

Q: Which comes closer to your view: High school graduates should go on to college because in the long run they'll have better job prospects, OR High school graduates should take any decent job offer they get because there are so many unemployed people already?

By a margin of two to one (64 percent to 32 percent), which is higher than the margin in 1993, Californians also believe that a college education is necessary for almost everyone (see Table One).

Table One The Importance of a College Education
To what extent do you think [INSERT GOAL] should be accomplished by a college education? % rating goal a 6 or 7 on a 7-point scale where 7 means the goal is extremely important:	1993	1996
Giving students marketable job skills so they can get good jobs when they graduate	80%	79%
Which statement comes closer to your view?
A college education is necessary for almost everyone	56%	64%
--or--
A college education is not necessary for many people	39%	32%

When Californians are asked why people should attend college, 79 percent say the most important goal of a college education is to give students "marketable skills so they can get good jobs when they graduate." A Sacramento woman put it this way:

Higher education is really important. All of the fields are getting more technical than they ever have been, so it is more important than ever for young people to get an education. And what are young people going to do with their lives if they can't work?

As Figure One and Table One reveal, higher education was extremely important to Californians in 1993. Since then, this support has either remained constant or increased.

 

Finding Two: No one who is qualified and motivated should be denied a college education because of lack of money.

Californians are also deeply committed to the principle of giving access to higher education for every qualified and motivated young person, regardless of the individual's financial condition. Eighty-one percent say "we should not allow the price of a college education to keep students who are qualified and motivated to go to college from doing so" (see Figure Two). People are convinced that any increase in tuition and fees will prevent people who should be going to college from attending, with 59 percent saying that "raising the price of public colleges and universities will put a college education out of reach for many people who should be going to college."

Q: We should not allow the price of a college education to keep students who are qualified and motivated to go to college from doing so. Do you agree strongly, agree somewhat, neither agree nor disagree, disagree somewhat, or disagree strongly?

People also fear that a college degree is already out of reach for many people. Fifty-four percent think that getting a college education is more difficult today than it was 10 years ago, while a higher percentage (64 percent) believe it will be even more difficult 10 years from now. Fifty-two percent of Californians believe that there are many people who are qualified for a college education who lack the opportunity to get one. A man from Long Beach said:

Everyone should have the opportunity to go to college, whether they can afford to or not. It is good for the country, and it is good for the kids. The world is getting smaller, and we have to be able to compete; the opportunities are not like when my father was a self-made man and could do it by himself.

Some critics complain that college is becoming available only to the rich who can pay for it and the poor (and minorities) who can get scholarships. The middle class, according to this view, are too poor to afford college but too well-off to qualify for help. Our results suggest that Californians do not share this view. Indeed, they are convinced that low-income people are hardest hit, with 52 percent saying that qualified students from low-income families have less opportunity than others to get a college education (see Table Two). By contrast, only a small percentage of residents (22 percent) say that the middle class has greater problems than other groups. These perceptions are only slightly affected by the income category of the respondent. For example, just 19 percent of middle-class respondents (with a family income from $26,000 to $50,000) say that students from middle-class families have less opportunity to get a college education, yet 56 percent of them voice such concerns about students from lower-income families.

Table Two Access for Specific Groups
Do you think [INSERT GROUP] have less opportunity, more opportunity or about the same opportunity as others to get a college education?
% saying group has "less opportunity"	1993	1996
Qualified students from low-income families	61%	52%
Qualified students who are ethnic or racial minorities, such as blacks or Latinos	35%	32%
People who are older and going back for retraining	29%	22%
Qualified students from middle-class families, regardless of their ethnic background	22%	22%

 

The strength of Californians' commitment to the principle of access is striking. Indeed a substantial number of them stand by their commitment even when told it would drain tax revenues. Specifically, the study asked Califor-nians if they thought the state should maintain its support for access to higher education even if that support "will cost the state and its taxpayers a lot more money." By margins of three to one (54 percent to 18 percent), Californians say it is as important as ever for California to maintain its commitment to access despite its costs. While this finding should not be taken a priori as endorsement of raising taxes for higher education, it does show how strongly they feel about access. We should also point out that 22 percent of Californians admit they are not sure on this issue.

 

Finding Three: A successful college education depends on the motivation and dedication that a student brings to it.

The third enduring theme in this study (and other studies of higher education) concerns the importance of student motivation. People believe that what makes the college experience a success is the energy and dedication that the student brings to the process. In focus groups conducted in 1993, people argued that a good student could get a great deal from even an under-equipped college, while a lackadaisical student would get little even from the best college in the world. That view still exists today. As a 1996 respondent said:

The motivation is enormously important; if the student doesn't have that, not much else is going to happen.

This view contrasts with how Americans look at problems in elementary and secondary public schools, where they tend to place more of the responsibility for failure on teachers and parents. While they acknowledge that many K­12 students are underperforming, they see them more as victims than as responsible parties. When it comes to higher education, however, the public tends to see the students as adults, responsible for their own success. There is a strong consensus (75 percent) that the benefit a student derives from college depends mostly upon how much effort he or she contributes (see Figure Three).

Q: Which comes closer to your own view: The benefit a student gets from attending college mostly depends upon the quality of the college he or she is attending, OR The benefit a student gets from attending college mostly depends upon how much of an effort he or she puts in.

A major test of motivation in the public's view is student willingness to pay at least part of their college expenses. Californians do not feel that students should get a college education for free. As a respondent in The Closing Gateway said, "A giveaway is a throwaway." Sixty-six percent of Californians surveyed either somewhat or strongly agree that "students don't appreciate the value of a college education when they have no personal responsibility for paying what it costs."

* * *

All of these core views continue to be strongly held, and it is likely that the California public will evaluate any policy changes with these values in mind. People want a state system that assures every qualified student an opportunity to attend an institution of higher education. They see higher education not as a luxury for the rich, but as a necessity--something that should be available to any student who is motivated and qualified.