After years of declining public trust, confidence in U.S. higher education is showing signs of recovery, according to a new Gallup-Lumina Foundation survey. The June 2025 report finds that 42% of Americans now say they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in higher education—up from 36% in both 2023 and 2024. It’s the first upward shift Gallup has recorded in more than a decade.
The percentage of Americans with little or no confidence in higher education also dropped significantly, from 32% last year to 23% this year.
“This is the first time we’ve seen a positive movement in public confidence in higher education since we began tracking it in 2015,” Gallup stated in its analysis. Back then, 57% of Americans expressed confidence in the sector.
The survey, which included more than 1,400 U.S. adults and oversampled Black and Hispanic respondents, found that confidence rose across all major demographic and political groups. Confidence increased six percentage points among college graduates (to 48%) and seven points among those without a four-year degree (to 40%).
Political affiliations also showed modest upticks: 61% of Democrats said they were confident in higher education, compared to 41% of independents and 26% of Republicans. While partisan gaps remain, the data reflects a slight rebound even among Republicans, whose trust in colleges has dropped the most in recent years.
Americans are also more confident in both two-year and four-year institutions. Confidence in two-year colleges jumped to 56%, up eight points from last year, while confidence in four-year institutions rose 11 points to 44%. Republicans expressed a particularly sharp increase in support for two-year colleges, with a 12-point gain.
Respondents who expressed confidence cited the quality of U.S. colleges, the knowledge and training they provide, and their innovative contributions. “Fourteen percent said U.S. colleges are among the best in the world,” Gallup noted, adoubling from last year.
Those lacking confidence pointed to political agendas, inadequate workforce preparation, and high costs as key concerns. But fewer respondents this year listed cost as their primary issue.
Despite ongoing criticism, the report found that a majority of Americans still believe higher education contributes positively to society—through innovation, better jobs, and higher incomes.
Confidence may be far from its 2015 high, but Gallup’s findings suggest a tentative shift in public sentiment toward renewed trust in higher education.
