The University of Colorado leadership is grappling with how to address a nationwide nosedive in the favorability of higher education — particularly, among conservatives — as CU’s own representatives and decision-makers disagree on what’s behind the downturn.
Thirty-six percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said colleges and universities had a positive effect on the way things are going in the country, with 58 percent saying higher education had a negative impact on the nation, . The Republicans’ now minority support for higher education dropped 18 points in the past two years.
Among Democrats and those who lean left, 72 percent viewed universities as having a positive impact on the U.S., with 19 percent thinking the opposite.
CU administration is well-aware of the study’s findings and agrees the results are a troubling sign of the times that shouldn’t be ignored.
Collective agreements on the matter end there.
CU Board of Regents Chair Sue Sharkey, R- Castle Rock, attributed the decline to a snowballing shift on college campuses making them increasingly uninviting to conservative viewpoints.
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