HIgher Education Questions: Section 1

HIGHER EDUCATION
Scroll down or click on "Question" to see the poll results for that question.

Section 1

Desire for College
Question 1: Would you like to have your oldest child go on to college after graduating high school? (Asked in: 1982, 1995.)
[Code: 209-HigDX-1]

	National Totals
Year	Yes %	No %	Don't Know %
1995	98	1	1
1982	87	5	8

Entrance Requirements
Question 2: Do you feel that four-year colleges and universities should raise their entrance requirements or not? (Asked in: 1984.)
[Code: 210-HigEX-2]

	National Totals
Year	Yes %	No %	No Opinion %
1984	27	59	14

Importance of College Education
Question 3: How important is a college education today -- very important, fairly important, or not too important? (Asked in: 1974, 1978, 1983, 1985, 2010, 2014, 2015.)
[Code: 211-HigIX-3]

	National Totals
Year	Very Important %	Fairly Important %	Not Too Important %	Don't Know %
2015	48	42	9	1
2014	43	48	9	1
2010	75	21	3	1
1985	64	27	7	2
1983	58	31	8	3
1978	36	46	16	2
1974*	38	51	10	1
*Asked in 1974 of high school juniors and seniors. 2% of that group selected "Not Important at All."

Question 4: Next are some questions about students and their future. On a five-point scale, where 5 means strongly agree and 1 means strongly disagree, please indicate your level of agreement with each of the following items: Today's high school dropout is ready for the world of work; today's high school graduate is ready for the world of work; today's college graduate is ready for the world of work. (In 2012, the following item was added: Today's high school graduate is ready for college.) (Asked in: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015.)
[Code: 902-HigPX-4]

	National Totals
	Strongly agree (5) %	(4) %	(3) %	(2) %	Strongly disagree (1) %
Today's high school dropout is ready for the world of work.
2015	1	2	9	27	60
2014	1	2	10	25	62
2013	3	2	8	20	67
2012	3	3	10	19	65
2011	MEAN = 1.48
2010	MEAN = 1.45
Today's high school graduate is ready for the world of work.
2015	3	13	44	29	9
2014	2	11	38	31	18
2013	4	13	34	28	21
2012	4	14	38	26	18
2011	MEAN = 2.36
2010	MEAN = 2.55
Today's college graduate is ready for the world of work.
2015	10	41	34	10	3
2014	5	32	36	19	9
2013	8	34	35	14	9
2012	14	40	29	10	7
2011	MEAN = 3.41
2010	MEAN = 3.5
Today's high school graduate is ready for college. (Asked beginning in 2012.)
2015	6	28	42	18	4
2014	4	27	46	16	7
2013	5	24	44	17	10
2012	8	25	43	17	7

Question 5: Many high school graduates cannot afford to attend college, although they may have the ability and desire to do so. When students have the ability and desire to attend college but not enough money, would you favor or oppose more state or federal assistance to enable them to attend? (In 2008, the question was worded as follows: Many high school students have the desire and academic ability to attend college but do not have enough money to do so. Would you favor or oppose makng more state or federal assistance availalbe to enable such students to attend college?) (Asked in: 1989, 1995, 2008.)
[Code: 213-HigPX-5]

	National Totals
	Favor %	Oppose %	Don't Know %
2008	86	12	2
1995	86	12	2
1989	83	13	4

	Public School Parents
	Favor %	Oppose %	Don't Know %
2008	90	9	1

There are several forms of state or federal assistance that might be provided to a student who has the ability but not enough money to attend college. As I read off each form of assistance, one at a time, would you tell me whether you would favor or oppose this form of assistance? More scholarships and grants. More work-study programs. More low-interest loans. (Asked in: 1989, 1995.)
[Code: 215-HigPX-6]

	National Totals
	Favor %		Oppose %		Don't Know %
Type of Assistance	1989	1995	1989	1995	1989	1995
More scholarships	94	89	4	10	2	1
More work-study programs	94	93	3	5	3	2
More low-interest loans	93	90	5	9	2	1

Question 7: (Asked of parents only) How likely do you think it is that you or your family will be able to pay for college for your oldest child? (Asked in: 1995, 2008, 2010, 2015.)
[Code: 212-HigPX-7]

	National Totals
Year	Very Likely %	Somewhat Likely %	Not Too Likely %	Not at All Likely %	Don't Know %
2015	21	33	26	19	1
2014	28	41	12	19	-
2010	36	41	16	7	-
2008	35	35	16	11	3
1995	30	39	17	12	2

Question 8: President Clinton has proposed a national service program to help young people pay for college. Under this program, anyone over age 17 could work in a public service position for one or two years and earn up to $10,000 credit toward the cost of a college education. Do you favor or oppose such a program? (Asked in: 1993.)
[Code: 214-HigPX-8]

	National Totals
Year	Favor %	Oppose %	Don't Know %
1993	81	14	5

Reasons for Attending College
Question 9: Why do you want your child to attend college? (Asked in: 1982, 2010.)
[Code: 216-HigRX-9]

	National Totals
Reason	2010 %	1982 %
More job opportunities/better income	58	48
Have a better life	19	20
Need more education today to cope with problems	15	27
College allows more time to mature	8	4
Other	5	11
I don't want my child to attend college	1	*
*Not report in 1982. Total equals more than 100% because of multiple answers.

Will Your Child Attend College?
Question 10: Do you think he or she will go to college? (Asked as a follow-up to the question: How likely do you think it is that you or your family will be able to pay for college for your oldest child?) (In 2010, the question was asked as: Do you think your child will go to college? and was not a follow-up question.) (Asked in: 1995, 2010.)
[Code: 217-HigPX-10]

	Public School Parents
Year	Yes %	No %	Don't Know %
2010	92	7	1
1995	82	12	6
1982	57	19	24
	Nonpublic School Parents
1995	85	8	7
1982	67	15	18

Question 11: My child plans to attend college. (Strongly agree to strongly disagree.) (Asked in: 2015.)
[Code: 1000-Hig1CX-11] Online poll

	National Totals
Year	Strongly agree (5) %	(4) %	(3) %	(2) %	Strongly disagree (1) %	Don't know/ refused %
2015	54	22	9	2	4	9

Question 12: Political leaders are discussing a proposal that community college should be free for students. Do you favor or oppose this idea? (Asked in: 2015.)
[Code: 1001-Hig1CC-12] Online poll

	National Totals
	Favor %	Oppose %	Don't Know %
2015	58	34	8

Question 13: How important is it for interested students in your community to learn about entrepreneurship and starting a business? (Asked in: 2015.)
[Code: 1005-Hig1EX-13] Online poll

	National Totals
Year	Very important %	Somewhat important %	Not very important %	Not at all important %	Don't Know %
2015	49	41	6	1	3

Question 14: What do you think your oldest child in public school is most likely to do after high school: Go to college full time, look for a full-time job, look for part-time work and study part time, or something else? (Asked in: 2017.)
[Code: 1039-Hig1WX-14]

	National Totals
Year	College %	Job %	Both part-time %	Other %	Military (vol.) (1) %	Don't know/ refused %
2017	61	7	22	5	1	5

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Last modified July 5, 2018
k_q_higher_1.htm