College Education Doesn't Assure Arts Appreciation
Americans who are college educated remain more likely than other Americans to participate in the arts, according to a survey released Monday by the National Endowment for the Arts. But the survey -- conducted periodically by the agency -- finds significant declines in the percentages of college-educated Americans who reported that they had attended arts related events. Compared to the NEA's 1982 survey, the steepest decline was in ballet, which that year was seen by 11.0 percent of college-educated adults, but in 2008 was seen by only 6.3 percent. Declines were seen in every type of art considered: jazz (from 19.4 percent to 14.9 percent); classical music (33.1 percent to 20.1 percent); opera (8.0 percent to 5.2 percent); musicals (40.5 percent to 32.7 percent); non-musical plays (30.2 percent to 19.8 percent); and art museums (49.2 percent to 44.5 percent).
