Confidence in American Higher Education Hits New Lows

[Webster]

American Family News: Confidence in higher ed. hits new lows

An editor for a higher-education news website isn't surprised by the erosion of Americans' trust in U.S. colleges and universities.

Matt Lamb of The College Fix says a new poll, conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) in May, shows "some" confidence in institutions of higher education, with few Americans reporting "a great deal" or "quite a lot of confidence" compared to a 2023 Gallup poll.

The drop was especially noted among Democrats, women, and young people aged 18-34. "Colleges have put themselves in an unfortunate position, because they often adopt left-wing views and use their platform to promote things like abortion, LGBT issues," Lamb submits.

Unrest from the campus anti-Israel protests has also hurt higher education's reputation. Other possible factors cited by FIRE include bias against center-right beliefs, rising tuition costs, administrative bloat, and recent headlines over academic dishonesty.

Still, Lamb believes the situation can be turned around. "Reset the expectations that colleges will be places where students will debate issues, where they will learn an actual skill," he suggests.

The goal of the college institutionally, the editor adds, should not be to push a political agenda.

Confidence in colleges and universities hits new lows, per FIRE polls

American confidence in higher education has plummeted over the past year, reaching record lows after months of campus protests.

www.thefire.org

 

[Augusta]

it would pick up again because I know things can still turned for the best when it comes to US education

 

[mrki444]

Reset the expectations that colleges will be places where students will debate issues, where they will learn an actual skill

Those above are two opposite things. Kids want only learn skills and nothing wider or around it. For debate you must have knowledge about something. In skills you don't have knowledge, just technique, so you can't be part of debate.

 

[Webster]

In skills you don't have knowledge

Yes you do, in regards to that skill.

I've known tradesmen, my friend, who may not have a piece of parchment from a university but I trust them and their judgement a helluva lot more than I do a lot of graduate/doctoral-level individuals.

 

[King Belieal]

Be that as it may, America still has the most high ranking universities in the league of world universities.