Enten Discusses Report On America’s View Of Higher Education
The numbers don’t lie, and neither does the public mood: trust in America’s higher education system has dropped off a cliff. CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten laid out the facts in stark terms this week, pointing to a dramatic decline in national confidence—from 57% just a decade ago to a sobering 36% today. That’s not just a slow erosion; it’s a collapse. The big question now isn’t if Americans have lost faith in colleges and universities—it’s why.
According to a new Gallup survey, nearly seven in ten Americans (68%) believe that higher education is “on the wrong track.” And among the reasons for this mass disillusionment, one stands out above the rest: ideological bias.
A strong plurality—45% of Americans—now believe colleges are skewed too far left. Just 24% push back on that idea. Even more revealing is the view from the Republican side: a whopping 67% agree that higher education is steeped in liberal bias.
A lot of Americans agree with Trump: higher ed needs a kick in the rear end. Those with high confidence in higher ed has collapsed: 57% in 2015 to 36% now. 68% (!) say higher ed is on the wrong track.
Also, a plurality of Americans & the GOP agree: colleges have a liberal bias. pic.twitter.com/JZtup3BoGV
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) May 29, 2025
This perception has been building for years, fueled by stories of campus speech codes, politicized syllabi, and the dominance of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) policies that, critics argue, often come at the expense of academic rigor or intellectual diversity.
And now, it’s not just conservatives who are sounding the alarm. According to Enten, even those outside the Republican base are growing increasingly skeptical of what higher ed is delivering—and what it’s costing.
Former President Donald Trump has seized on this discontent. Long a vocal critic of elite academic institutions, Trump’s campaign has doubled down on a message that resonates: universities are out of touch, bloated with federal funds, and ideologically captured.
His critiques have found an audience far beyond MAGA rallies—because, as Enten notes, “the plurality of Americans overall agree” with him that something is deeply broken.
Perhaps even more ominous is the international response. Interest in American universities from foreign students—a crucial source of both funding and global prestige—has plunged. Page views for U.S. university programs abroad dropped 50% between January and April. That kind of fall-off suggests the world is taking notice of America’s internal reckoning with its own higher education system.