Since the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel last year, pro-Hamas protests have become a hot-button issue on campuses across the nation. Few Americans managed to avoid the national coverage of near-riots at institutions such as Columbia University and UCLA. Because higher education’s costs are going up, and because fewer rewards now attend students’ (and taxpayers’) money and effort, these protests are yet another reason why students may opt to enter the workforce instead of going through four additional years of education.
Parents of college-age students, who often foot the bill, are more and more aware of where their hard-earned money is going, A new study from the higher-ed branding firm SimpsonScarborough indicates that parents (42 percent) are more likely than high-school-aged students (20 percent) to have “high familiarity” with the recent protests, and they tend to have more negative views of them. Nineteen percent of parents versus 10 percent of students now have a “significant[ly]” decreased trust in higher ed—no small portion given the enrollment pressures facing colleges.
Republican parents have lost the most trust in higher education, but trust declined among other party-identifiers, as well. Unsurprisingly, Republican parents have lost the most trust in higher education as a result of the protests, though trust declined among other party-identifiers, as well. Fifty percent of Republican parents (versus 16 percent of Democratic parents and 29 percent of independent parents) now have a “significant[ly]” more negative impression of protest-roiled campuses.
The schools most associated with protests, according to respondents, were Columbia University, Harvard University, and the University of California, Los Angeles.
Overall confidence in higher education has been on the decline for a while. A Gallup survey from July gauged Americans’ feelings about various institutions and found that confidence in universities had dropped among all key subgroups, with the biggest drop taking place among Republicans. Interestingly, Americans are more confident in two-year institutions than in four-year ones. Of those who lacked confidence, 41 percent mentioned colleges being “too liberal,” practicing ”indoctrination,” and “brainwashing” students. Thirty-seven percent mentioned that colleges do not teach relevant skills, a complaint often lobbed by employers who are increasingly focused on skills-based rather than degree-based hiring. The general consensus is that colleges are getting worse, not better.
While parents and some students have lost trust in higher education as a specific result of the pro-Hamas protests, this sentiment does not seem to have carried over to employers. A recent poll from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) revealed that more than half of employer respondents were not at all (25 percent) or only slightly (30 percent) concerned “about [the] impacts of potential political/social unrest on campus.” Nearly 80 percent said that they would not change their college recruiting plans due to possible campus unrest.
Does this indicate that rioting students ought not to be concerned about their future employability? Not necessarily. The NACE poll included only 142 employers, a small sample size considering that there are over six million employers in the U.S. Another point to consider: Employers may not be willing to admit that they consider protest participation when hiring.
Higher education is at a critical tipping point in the United States. Confidence and trust are dropping among all demographics, and college administrators are often being bullied by students rather than working toward educating the next generation. Pro-Hamas protesters running roughshod over their schools is not the answer. Colleges and universities should refocus their attention away from politics, embrace institutional neutrality, and create an environment where students are intellectually challenged.
Grace Hall is a communications assistant at the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. She works and lives in Georgia.