Confidence in Colleges and Universities Plummets to All-Time Low

A recent poll commissioned by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago has revealed that confidence in colleges and universities in the United States has reached a record-low. The poll found that only 28% of Americans have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in higher education.

Confidence in colleges and universities in the United States has reached a record-low, according to a recent poll commissioned by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. The poll found that only 28% of Americans have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in higher education.

Confidence in Colleges and Universities Plummets to All-Time Low

This is a significant decline from 36% in 2023, when Gallup conducted a similar poll. In contrast, in 2015, 57% of Americans had a "great deal" of approval for institutions of higher education.

The findings of the FIRE poll suggest that a growing number of Americans are losing confidence in the value of higher education. This could be due to a number of factors, including the rising cost of college, the perception that many degrees do not lead to well-paying jobs, and the increasing partisan divide on college campuses.

Confidence in Colleges and Universities Plummets to All-Time Low

The poll also found that confidence in higher education is particularly low among younger Americans, Democrats, and women. These groups have seen "some of the largest drops" in confidence since 2023.

Some experts argue that information is easily accessible on the web and that the astronomical cost of a college education doesn't make much sense as an investment, especially considering that the wages for jobs that require a degree have not kept up at the same pace.

Confidence in Colleges and Universities Plummets to All-Time Low

Others speculate that partisan politics inside the classroom and recent on-campus chaos surrounding the Israel-Hamas War could be to blame for disillusionment with higher education. In December 2024, for instance, University of California, Santa Cruz professor John Ellis wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that the system of higher education needed to be reformed by getting left-wing activists out of the classroom.

He cited "virulent antisemitism" that flared up following Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks against Israeli civilians as an addition to – or byproduct of – already pervasive cultural issues like censorship, DEI content and ideologies like "anticolonialism" and "anticapitalism."

Confidence in Colleges and Universities Plummets to All-Time Low

In that same month, as then-Harvard President Claudine Gay was embroiled in controversy over campus antisemitism, college admissions consultant Christopher Rim told Fox News he was "completely shocked" to see students turning down their acceptances to the university for the first time in his career.

The Ivy League institution also reported a dropoff in early applications, something Bob Sweeney, a retired college counselor at New York's Mamaroneck High School, told Bloomberg he believed could have been partially caused by the antisemitism controversy.

Confidence in Colleges and Universities Plummets to All-Time Low

FIRE's report additionally noted confidence had reached record-lows after "months of campus protests over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Congressional hearings about antisemitism on college campuses."

A separate FIRE/NORC poll found that 72% of Americans believed that students who participated in encampments should face punishment though those included in the poll disagreed on how severe such punishment should be. 

These findings suggest that the loss of confidence in colleges and universities is a complex issue with a variety of contributing factors. It is important to note that the FIRE poll is just one data point, and more research is needed to understand the full extent of the problem and to develop effective solutions.