Americans in new poll skeptical of widespread availability of quality, affordable higher education

An overwhelming majority of respondents in a new poll said that no more than half of Americans have access to quality education past high school. 

Research from Gallup and the Luma Foundation showed that 71 percent of respondents said quality, affordable education was accessible to no more than half of the public, while 21 percent said it was available to most. Meanwhile, just 9 percent of people said affordable higher education is available to all Americans who want it.

Among people who were currently enrolled students versus those who were unenrolled, the figures were fairly similar but had some discrepancies. 

Twenty-five percent of enrolled students said quality, affordable education after high school was accessible to most, compared to 20 percent of unenrolled people. 

Meanwhile, 29 percent of enrolled students said such educational opportunities were available to not too many people compared to 36 percent of unenrolled respondents.

The poll was conducted Oct. 19 and Nov. 22 and included 11,227 U.S. adults. It has a margin of sampling error of 1.4 percentage points.

It comes as the Biden administration looks to move forward with student loan debt forgiveness, as President Biden considers action to expunge at least $10,000 per borrower through executive action.

Biden said he is “taking a hard look” at forgiving some student debt, adding that he is not considering the $50,000 debt reduction pushed by others in his party, including Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).