Republican voters believe in the value of college degrees, but concerns about responsibility and affordability have attracted attention, a new national survey conducted by the Central Left Think Tank, Republican Poll Group GS Strategic Group.
A survey of 500 Republican voters found that the majority of respondents (63%) believed that a four-year degree was valuable, including 60% of voters who had a “very favorable” view of President Trump. Trade schools and community colleges enjoy particularly strong support; 91% and 87% of respondents benefited them. By comparison, 69% have favorable views on four-year colleges and universities, while 37% have positive views on for-profit colleges.
Meanwhile, Republicans surveyed believe that the most needed reform in today’s advanced ED is greater accountability and greater affordability.
The majority of respondents (87%) supported increasing accountability for higher education institutions. Many believe that governments should play various roles to ensure that principles are maintained. 71% agree that the federal government should require institutional transparency and recognize its value to students based on. The same share believes there should be a federal guardrail to prevent “bad actors” from charging students for low-quality degrees. Nearly half of the people agree that taxpayer dollars should be withheld from universities that provide adequate return on student investment.
To this end, 83% of Republicans support the Financial Value Transparency Rule, which requires colleges to report program-level information such as total attendance costs and the number of private education loans paid to students. To make colleges more affordable, 81% of Republicans favor Pell grants, federal financial aid for low-income students, and 79% support the public service loan forgiveness program and income repayment of student loans. Nearly 70% favor borrowers’ defense to repay the loan, allowing students attending fraud institutions to release their student loans.
The report notes that many of these same policies are “considering cuts to budget settlements”.
“When Congress considers when this year’s budget will be cut, it’s important to remember that Republican voters are not looking for cuts to higher education, but reemphasizing making it more affordable and giving institutions the boundaries that provide ROI.”
