The Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy surveyed just over 1,000 U.S. adults, asking their views on topics related to higher education and talking politics in college classrooms.
Here’s what the result of the poll showed.
Americans do not want politicians interfering with what campuses teach, and they do not wish for universities and colleges to get involved in politics
The public remains highly divided on controversial areas of study, such as gender identity and gay marriage. By contrast, the public, collectively, sees the merit in colleges tackling issues like slavery.
“The closer you get to subjects and content that have associations with contemporary political divisions, the more you see public support fracture. People want colleges and professors to teach students how to think, not what to think,” said Vanderbilt Poll Co-Director Josh Clinton.
Clinton said their polling data also showed that 71% of the public felt strongly that universities should not take official positions on controversial political issues.
On keeping political issues out of the classroom, 66% believe state elected officials should not oversee what is taught about subjects such as U.S. history. 68% said the same about capitalism and socialism. 70% said no on evolution, and 74% said stay away from gender identity and sexual orientation.
65% said the federal government should not try to direct how professors teach in colleges and universities.
“Overwhelmingly, people want politics kept out of the classroom,” Clinton said. “They don’t want professors using the classroom to push political views, and they don’t want politicians trying to dictate what happens in higher education. People want education to be about education.”
When asked how important each of these things is for their child to get from college:
90% say “the ability to think more logically” is the most or very important
85% say “the ability to get along with and understand people” is the most or very important
80% say “the desire and ability to be a more useful citizen” is the most or very important
79% say “training to fit them for a specific occupation or profession” is the most or very important
77% say “a larger amount of factual information” is the most or very important
77% say “moral growth” is the most or very important
