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A majority of Americans lack confidence in higher education leaders, according to a new U.S. News–Harris poll that surveyed 2,000 adults from Dec. 8 to 10.
Nearly 80 percent said that college and university leaders are more concerned with their institutions’ endowments than with students, and over 60 percent expressed worry that college leaders prioritize the interests of donors and other outside constituents over those of students. About 60 percent of respondents said they believe colleges are failing students.
Survey respondents also expressed concern about college access and diversity, with just under 80 percent saying they worried that if colleges “don’t become more accessible to all people and emphasize diversity, then the leaders of tomorrow will all be the same.”
The poll was conducted two months after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, amid ongoing controversy over how campus leaders are handling the response to the conflict on their campuses, which in some cases have seen a sharp rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia.
