Last week, Inside Higher Ed released its 2026 Survey of College and University Presidents. According to their findings, just 16% of presidents say institutions have been moderately, very, or extremely effective in responding to the public’s declining confidence in higher education. Nearly one in two, 47%, say they haven’t been effective at all.
There are a myriad of reasons for the decline in public trust, but one reason that can’t be ignored is the belief that today’s college graduates aren’t ready for work. Being able to get a good job is frequently cited as the primary reason to go to college, but uncertainty about graduates’ readiness for work, coupled with the cost of tuition, means that the value proposition of higher education for the general public is increasingly called into question.
In our latest survey for Winning the Issues (March 15-17), we asked voters whether they believed or did not believe that most college graduates today are ready to enter the workforce. Overall, 54% of voters did not believe it, while 36% did. Fifty-five percent of Republicans (37-55 believe-do not believe), 57% of independents (31-57), and 49% of Democrats (39-49) did not believe that most graduates are ready for work.
Even those with a traditional four-year degree were not confident in the workforce readiness of today’s graduates. Fifty-four percent of those who had a bachelor’s degree or postgraduate education did not believe most graduates today were ready for work (38-54), little different from those with no college experience, some college, or an associate’s degree (34-53).
Parents, on the other hand, were different. While they did not have a majority affirm their belief that today’s graduates are ready, the margin was much narrower. Some 45% said today’s graduates are generally ready (45-48 believe-do not believe), nine points higher than the overall electorate (36%) and 13 points higher than those who are not parents (32%; 32-56 believe-do not believe).
The lack of faith in graduates’ readiness for work is an important part of the decline in public trust in higher education. What’s more, this view is broadly held, and cuts across many groups. The Inside Higher Ed survey found that 51% of presidents reported their institution launched an initiative to combat the decline in public trust, but “relatively few [of these initiatives] mention affordability or workforce alignment or career readiness efforts.” That parents are somewhat more likely to affirm graduates’ workforce readiness may be a relative bright spot for higher education leaders, but even parents are not as convinced that today’s students graduate with the skills they need to succeed. This is a belief that college and university leaders need to address.
