VCU Commonwealth Education Poll Finds Virginians Say Higher Education Important, Divided over Whether State Funding is Enough

By Mike Porter

Most Virginians say higher education is important but residents are divided over whether current state funding for higher education is adequate, according to a new statewide survey conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University.  

The VCU Commonwealth Education Poll was conducted as Gov. Bob McDonnell’s Commission on Higher Education Reform, Innovation and Investment puts the finishing touches on proposals designed to increase the proportion of state residents with a college diploma.

The poll finds about three-in-10 (29 percent) Virginians consider it a top priority for the state to have public universities and colleges that are top quality. Another 49 percent consider this very important, 17 percent call this somewhat important and 2 percent say it is not too important.

State residents are evenly divided over whether public universities and colleges in the state have enough funding (42 percent) or not enough (41 percent) to meet their needs today. This is a shift from a year ago when a 52 percent majority said higher education did not have enough to meet their needs and 34 percent said funding was enough.

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say that current funding for higher education is enough to meet its needs (55 percent Republicans, 29 percent Democrats). About half (49 percent) of independents say current higher education funding is enough to meet its needs; 33 percent say it is not enough.

Among those who say current funding is inadequate, more think such funds should come from state tax increases (46 percent) rather than from tuition and fee increases to students and their families (31 percent.)  And 13 percent said increases should come from both sources.

The Commonwealth Education Poll was conducted by landline and cell telephone from Dec. 2 to Dec. 8, 2010, with a random sample of 1,002 adults in Virginia. The margin of error for the poll is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points. This survey is conducted annually by VCU’s Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute (CEPI.)

"It’s important to note that Democrats and Republicans are about equally likely to say that having a top quality higher education system is a priority for the state,” said Cary Funk, associate professor in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs and director of the survey. “The partisan divide is over whether state funding for higher education is currently adequate or not, and the best mechanisms to potentially increase higher education funding.”

When comparing Virginia’s public universities and colleges with other states, 5 percent of state residents call Virginia’s system the “best in the U.S.,” 46 percent consider it above average, 34 percent say it is average and 5 percent say it is below average.

Those who have earned a college degree are more positive in their evaluations; 64 percent of college graduates say Virginia’s public universities and colleges are either above average or the best in the country. This compares with 40 percent of those with no more than a high school education who say the same.

Asked to choose between two alternatives, a 56 percent majority says that a college degree is “necessary for a person to be successful in today’s work world;” 35 percent say “there are many ways to succeed in today’s work world without a college degree.”  The remainder did not choose either option.

The survey asked respondents two questions about potential effects of increasing the number of students graduating from public universities and colleges in Virginia.

Half of the respondents were asked if they thought this would influence economic development. About seven-in-10 (72 percent) believe increasing the proportion of state residents with a college degree will help state economic development, and two-in-10 believe it won’t help.

The other half of survey respondents were asked about the degree to which this would influence job opportunities in the state. A majority of 52 percent said it would improve job opportunities a lot, 28 percent said it would improve opportunities a little and 17 percent said it would have “not too much” or no effect on job opportunities.

"The Commonwealth Education Poll expanded our attention to higher education issues this year, in part, because of the linkage between the K-12 system and preparing students for the next steps after high school—especially jobs and college,” said William C. Bosher, Jr., executive director, Commonwealth Educational Policy Institute and distinguished professor of public policy in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs.

“The poll shows a good deal of support for the mission of Virginia’s public colleges and universities while also raising some cautionary flags about how to pay for any funding increases in higher education,” said Bosher, who is also a member of Gov. Bob McDonnell’s Commission on Higher Education Reform, Innovation and Investment.

The entire report including complete question wording and detailed tables of results is available at http://www.cepionline.org/.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A Commonwealth Education Poll containing views about K-12 education will be released separately.