Only an ideological overhaul will restore public trust in higher education

America’s confidence in higher education has plummeted. Faculty and administrators need to recognize that an ideological overhaul of their institutions is necessary to regain the public’s trust.

A recent Gallup survey found that only 36% of the public has “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in our institutions of higher education, a troubling decline from 48% in 2018 and 57% in 2015. New America’s Varying Degrees 2023 survey showed that only 41% think higher education is “fine how it is.”

The continually rising costs of a college education, combined with uncertainty over the economy and growing doubts about the job prospects and earning potential for most college graduates, may in part explain this crisis of confidence. College degrees have become too expensive, and many, especially those who are struggling to pay down their student loans, doubt they will see an adequate return on investment.

Ideology might be a larger cause, however. Gallup’s survey revealed a stark partisan divide: Only 19% of Republicans expressed confidence in our institutions of higher education, compared to 59% of Democrats. The New America survey found a similar gap: 78% of Democrats said colleges and universities have a positive effect on the country, whereas only 41% of Republicans said the same. Academia should be helping to overcome political polarization, but these results suggest it is part of the problem.

America’s colleges and universities have leaned left of center for some time. The 1972 Carnegie Commission National Survey of Higher Education reported (based on a 1969 survey) that 4% of professors identified as “Left” and 39% as “liberal,” compared to 24% who identified as “moderately conservative” and 3% as strongly conservative. The tide has turned sharply leftward since then.

A more recent study suggested that Democrats outnumber Republicans 9:1 in the professoriate today. Only 3% of faculty at Harvard University identified as conservative in a survey run by the school’s student newspaper. Faculty political donations tell a similar story: The National Association of Scholars has shown they go to Democrats by a ratio of 95:1.

As the number of faculty who identify as liberal has grown, the meaning of that word has shifted as well. Recently retired Harvard professor Harvey Mansfield, who joined the Harvard faculty in 1962, has reported that professors “turned Left in the late 60s,” noting they “took over from liberalism,” which at the time meant “cold war liberals” — not the progressives who are often labeled liberal today.

Administrative leaders have not shown interest in disabusing the public of its belief that our colleges and universities have become partisan institutions. They routinely issue statements disapproving of political developments with which liberals disagree. They often fail to discipline students who shout down conservative speakers on their campuses. Their institutions use diversity, equity, and inclusion statements to screen future faculty members even though a survey by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression found that about half of faculty, and 90% of conservative faculty, think using such statements amounts to an ideological litmus test.

America’s colleges and universities have leaned left of center for some time. The 1972 Carnegie Commission National Survey of Higher Education reported (based on a 1969 survey) that 4% of professors identified as “Left” and 39% as “liberal,” compared to 24% who identified as “moderately conservative” and 3% as strongly conservative. The tide has turned sharply leftward since then.

A more recent study suggested that Democrats outnumber Republicans 9:1 in the professoriate today. Only 3% of faculty at Harvard University identified as conservative in a survey run by the school’s student newspaper. Faculty political donations tell a similar story: The National Association of Scholars has shown they go to Democrats by a ratio of 95:1.

As the number of faculty who identify as liberal has grown, the meaning of that word has shifted as well. Recently retired Harvard professor Harvey Mansfield, who joined the Harvard faculty in 1962, has reported that professors “turned Left in the late 60s,” noting they “took over from liberalism,” which at the time meant “cold war liberals” — not the progressives who are often labeled liberal today.

Administrative leaders have not shown interest in disabusing the public of its belief that our colleges and universities have become partisan institutions. They routinely issue statements disapproving of political developments with which liberals disagree. They often fail to discipline students who shout down conservative speakers on their campuses. Their institutions use diversity, equity, and inclusion statements to screen future faculty members even though a survey by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression found that about half of faculty, and 90% of conservative faculty, think using such statements amounts to an ideological litmus test.

This article appeared on The Washington Examiner on September 29, 2023.