Conservatives, don't give up on going to college. Work to reform higher education.

It’s no secret that Republicans have lost faith in higher education. But the decline is both more recent and more dramatic than many people realize.

Despite universities’ obvious failings and deepening ideological homogeneity, a major political party withdrawing from higher education poses a risk to American democracy itself.

Republicans aren’t just losing faith in the institution. Many Republicans say a college education is simply not worth it. In a September survey by the Public Religion Research Institute, only 37% of Republicans say a college education is a smart investment in the future: a 15-point decline from 2016 when more than half (52%) offered this assessment. In 2019, only 33% of Republicans in a Pew survey said colleges and universities have a positive effect on the country, a drop from 54% in 2015.

Consequences of declining trust 

The declining trust that right-of-center Americans have in higher education might have profound consequences. In an analysis of a recent Pew Research Center study, we found that Republican parents today are less likely than Democratic parents to encourage their teenage children to attend college. Only 63% of Republicans said it’s very important that their children attend, compared with 79% of Democrats.

If Republicans avoid sending their children to college or forgo college themselves, it will exacerbate political cleavages in higher education. These changes are likely to alter the political composition of student bodies, and by extension the overall political climate on many campuses.

Making matters worse, fewer men are going to college. In 2016, the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute found that a record number of freshman women (41%) identify as liberal, compared with 29% of their male counterparts. There are now 60 women for every 40 men on college campuses. If fewer men attend college, the ideological center of gravity already tilting left will slide more in that direction.

Whatever your politics, we should all be bothered by the decline of trust and interest in college. By limiting the expression of diverse viewpoints, college campuses stifle open and honest debate and leave students ill-prepared for the difficult conversations that are essential for a functioning democracy. A college degree also provides massive financial benefits in the form of higher lifetime earnings and increased job security.

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Money aside, research shows that those without a college degree are more likely to be depressed, require increased levels of government assistance and have higher rates of divorce. They also vote and volunteer less often than their college-educated counterparts.

More important, a college education confers a wealth of social advantages. Society’s level of social capital is directly enhanced by college attendance as well. Our research at the Survey Center on American Life has found that Americans without college educations are experiencing a more acute friendship recession than those with degrees. College graduates today have a larger number of close friends, are less likely to feel lonely and have more extensive social support than those who did not attend.

Conservatives: Don't give up 

For some time, Republicans have been concerned over the state of higher education and its influence on the broader culture. Reports of university administrators becoming more aggressive in shutting down opinions that diverge from the campus mainstream are worrying.

It’s a concern that is increasingly shared among the general public. A Pew survey found that most Americans, including almost three-quarters of Republicans and nearly half of Democrats, believe that politics on college campuses lean toward one particular viewpoint.

There is nothing that can replace the social and economic advantages that a college education provides. Rather than giving up on the institution of higher education, conservatives would be far better off advocating to reform it.

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America’s economy and society as a whole will be far better served by investments to improve institutions of higher learning. When people feel their voices are not heard, their experiences are not valid and their values are not accepted, they are unlikely to trust or participate in these organizations. And we will all be worse off for it.

Daniel A. Cox, a senior fellow in polling and public opinion at the American Enterprise Institute, is director of AEI’s Survey Center on American Life. Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.