(The Center Square) – Republicans who identify as MAGA are more likely to believe that bias is a serious issue at the nation’s colleges and universities, according to a new Vanderbilt Unity Poll.
The poll released Wednesday shows that 79% of Republicans and 54% of Democrats believe it compared to 91% of respondents who identify as the acronym for second-term Republican President Donald Trump’s signature call to make America great again.
The blame for the bias was directed at administrators and not at what professors and instructors are teaching, according to the poll.
Seventy-one percent of the 1,300 Americans polled said they do not believe that universities should take a stance on political issues.
Those who identify as MAGA also have less confidence in higher education, with just 24% saying they have a “great deal” or a “quite a lot.” Democrats had the most trust in higher education at 69%, followed by independents (45%) and Republicans (35%).
Overall, 47% of respondents said they had confidence in the country’s colleges and universities. The military fared better with a vote of confidence of 49%.
The survey showed worries about college affordability, with 68% having little confidence that higher education would remain affordable. But 40% said with a “great deal” or “a lot of confidence” that a college education prepares students for a successful career and teaches them how to be critical thinkers.
The poll also shows that 56% believe that colleges and universities “conduct scientific and medical research that saves lives and 46% believe that they “produce important research in humanities and social sciences.”
“While the conventional wisdom may suggest that support for colleges and universities is low, it’s important to highlight that most Americans view higher education as a net positive for society, and its support has actually increased from the low levels we saw in 2023 and 2024,” said Josh Clinton, codirector of the Vanderbilt Poll. “Yes, there are real concerns – most people think affordability is a major problem, and many perceive colleges and universities as having a partisan slant – but that’s very different from widespread opposition to the idea of higher education itself.”
The poll was conducted Sept. 5-8 in English and Spanish, the university said.
The sampling has a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points.
