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Education Dive
Survey finds bipartisan voter support for federal policies to ensure students benefit from college
James Paterson
June 18, 2019
Dive Brief:
The majority of Americans identifying as either Democrats or
Republicans think the federal government should protect students from
poor-performing schools, finds a new survey of likely voters by Third
Way, a left-leaning think tank.
While 55% of respondents said they view higher ed favorably, larger
shares said they were favorable of vocational or trade schools (83%),
public community colleges (83%) and four-year institutions (69%). Just
34% said they viewed for-profit schools favorably.
Free college may not be as popular as some presidential hopefuls
believe. A larger share of Democratic voters said they support more
Pell Grants (90%) and requiring accreditors to consider student
outcomes (85%) than free community college (84%) or free public college
(75%).
Dive Insight:
Those surveyed indicated they want higher ed to do a better job of
keeping up with the demands of today's economy — and if it doesn't, it
should be held accountable.
The report's authors also note there is less of a difference than some
would expect between the responses from Democrats and Republicans.
A similar share of Republicans (82%) and Democrats (85%) believe
accreditors should be required to consider student outcomes. Roughly
three-quarters of both groups (78%) support shutting off federal aid to
colleges with graduation rates under 15%. And about half of both groups
(47%) support eliminating rules that limit federal aid to for-profit
institutions.
Yet there are several policy proposals for which more dramatic
differences emerge. A smaller share of Republicans (54%) support a new
grant program for low-income and minority students than do Democrats
(89%). Additionally, Republicans had lower levels of support for free
tuition at community colleges (44%) and all public colleges (36%).
Federal oversight of higher ed, and particularly for-profit
institutions, has become a prominent issue in the Trump administration
and one for which the U.S. Department of Education has launched a
regulatory overhaul. Earlier this month, the federal agency released
proposed rules that would give accrediting agencies more leeway over
taking action against institutions and make it easier for colleges to
get programs approved.
While Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has touted the rules as a way to
foster innovation, some higher ed experts say it will weaken the
accreditation system and hurt student outcomes.
The issues within the survey are also a key part of negotiations over
the potential reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. Earlier this
year, the Trump administration laid out its priorities for the overdue
rewrite, including streamlining accreditation, reorganizing accreditors
around mission instead of geography and expanding Pell Grants to
short-term programs.
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