NAICU Survey Shows Positive Bipartisan Support for Higher Ed

The survey’s results show an overall positive perception of higher education.

The nation’s federal student aid programs received strong bipartisan public support in a recent survey from the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. The poll also captured positive outlooks on the value of higher education as a whole.

It’s “a rare political issue on which Americans across the political spectrum agree,” NAICU president Barbara Mistick said in a news release.

The study, conducted by RW Jones in November, included more than 1,200 responses from nationally representative adults. Among them, 75 percent of the Republicans and more than 80 percent of the Democrats said they support federal student loans, Pell Grants and other forms of national aid.

When it comes to broader overall views of higher ed, 62 percent of respondents said their feelings were positive. But that number was even higher among those who had obtained a graduate degree and those from racial groups traditionally underrepresented in higher ed, at about 80 percent and 70 percent, respectively.

The full survey results can be seen here.