{"id":45556,"date":"2024-02-01T14:00:07","date_gmt":"2024-02-01T19:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2024\/02\/01\/colleges-and-universities-k-12-public-schools\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T14:58:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T18:58:43","slug":"colleges-and-universities-k-12-public-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/02\/01\/colleges-and-universities-k-12-public-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"1. Colleges and universities, K-12 public schools"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Americans\u2019 views of whether educational institutions are having a positive or negative impact on the country are essentially unchanged since late 2022<\/a>. About half (53%) say colleges and universities are having a positive impact, while 45% say they\u2019re having a negative impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Views of the impact of K-12 public schools are identical (53% positive, 45% negative). These also are little changed from 2022, though somewhat less positive than in 2021 (when 61% had a positive opinion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Partisanship and ideology<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Chart<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Democrats are about twice as likely as Republicans to view both colleges and K-12 schools positively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roughly three-quarters (74%) of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say colleges have a positive impact \u2013 nearly as many (72%) say the same of K-12 public schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only about a third of Republicans and Republican leaners express positive opinions about the impact of colleges (31%) or K-12 public schools (34%). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a sharp ideological divide among Republicans in views of educational institutions. Just 20% of conservative Republicans say colleges have a positive impact \u2013 roughly half the share of moderate and liberal Republicans who say the same (53%). The difference is similar when it comes to opinions about how K-12 public schools affect the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats are less ideologically divided: Liberal Democrats are more likely than conservative and moderate Democrats to view colleges and public schools positively, but sizable majorities in both groups say colleges and public schools have a positive effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Age, education<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Younger adults and those with more formal education are more likely than older adults and those with less education to view educational institutions positively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colleges and universities<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\"Chart<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Roughly six-in-ten of those ages 18 to 29 (63%) say that colleges and universities are having a positive impact, compared with 56% of those 30 to 49 and 52% of those 50 to 64.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Among those ages 65 and older, more say that colleges are having a negative impact (56%) than say they are having a positive impact (40%).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 59% of those with at least a bachelor\u2019s degree view colleges and universities positively, compared with 50% of those without a bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
    K-12 public schools<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • 58% of adults under 30 say that K-12 schools are having a positive impact, as do 54% of adults ages 30 to 64. This drops to 46% among those ages 65 and older.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Six-in-ten college graduates say that K-12 public schools are having a positive impact, compared with 49% of those without college degrees.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Americans\u2019 views of whether educational institutions are having a positive or negative impact on the country are essentially unchanged since late 2022. About half (53%) say colleges and universities are having a positive impact, while 45% say they\u2019re having a negative impact. Views of the impact of K-12 public schools are identical (53% positive, 45% […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":581,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[234,374,373,100,417,170,283,77,411],"tags":[],"bylines":[],"collection":[],"datasets":[2741],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[],"research-teams":[520],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-45556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-workplace","category-higher-education","category-k-12","category-military-veterans-1","category-partisanship-issues","category-religious-leaders-institutions","category-tech-companies-1","category-trust-in-government","category-unions","datasets-american-trends-panel-wave-140","formats-report","research-teams-politics"],"label":false,"post_parent":45569,"word_count":371,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/02\/01\/colleges-and-universities-k-12-public-schools\/","art_direction":{"A1":{"id":57760,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/02\/SR_24.01.26_Institutions_topic.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/02\/SR_24.01.26_Institutions_topic.png?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":57766,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/02\/SR_24.01.26_Institutions_crop.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/02\/SR_24.01.26_Institutions_crop.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"","chartArt":true},"A3":{"id":57766,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/02\/SR_24.01.26_Institutions_crop.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/02\/SR_24.01.26_Institutions_crop.png?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"caption":"","chartArt":true},"A4":{"id":57766,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/02\/SR_24.01.26_Institutions_crop.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/02\/SR_24.01.26_Institutions_crop.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"caption":"","chartArt":true},"XL":{"id":57760,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/02\/SR_24.01.26_Institutions_topic.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/02\/SR_24.01.26_Institutions_topic.png?w=720&h=405&crop=1","width":720,"height":405,"caption":"","chartArt":false},"social":{"id":57763,"rawUrl":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/02\/SR_24.01.26_Institutions_feature.png","url":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/02\/SR_24.01.26_Institutions_feature.png?w=1200&h=628&crop=1","width":1200,"height":628,"caption":"","chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[{"id":45569,"title":"From Businesses and Banks to Colleges and Churches: Americans\u2019 Views of U.S. Institutions","slug":"from-businesses-and-banks-to-colleges-and-churches-americans-views-of-u-s-institutions","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/02\/01\/from-businesses-and-banks-to-colleges-and-churches-americans-views-of-u-s-institutions\/","is_active":false},{"id":45556,"title":"1. 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