Over the years, many Americans are feeling less optimistic about the higher education system in the country, a new survey by New America think tank has found.
Nearly 65 percent of respondents surveyed for the 20 Years of New America report somewhat disagree or strongly disagree that higher education is doing fine in the country.
Democrats are more likely to express dissatisfaction with the post-secondary education than the Republicans. Across different age groups, Generation Z, Millennial and Generation X also echo the same sentiments.
The survey noted an interesting trend among adults who believe that higher education institutions should lose access to federal funds if several indicators of quality are missing.
But the attitude toward such indicators like low graduation rates, high default rates for student loans, high default rates for student loan repayments, and low incidence of jobs with a living wage for graduates differs from person to person.
Nearly 80 percent of Americans believe that colleges and universities should lose some access to taxpayer dollars if they have low graduation rates. About 77 percent of respondents chose low rates of graduates earning a living wage as the criteria to cut funds, while 65 percent want lesser funding for colleges if they have low rates of graduates paying down their student loans.
Nearly half of the respondents believe that Americans can get high quality and affordable education, while the other half disagrees showing a divide among the adults on this issue.
When it comes to the question of funding higher education, 67 percent of those surveyed hold government responsible for it, while 23 percent hold students accountable.
Overall there is a greater consensus among the adults that federal and state government should allocate more funding to make post-secondary education more affordable.