College students who identify as Republicans are more likely than their Democratic counterparts to trust their school to act in their best interests — even as confidence in higher education among conservatives sinks.
Sixty-two percent of Republican students said their college’s leadership mostly acts in students’ best interests, compared with 55% of Democrats and half of independents, according to polling from Lumina Foundation and Gallup.
As the Trump administration targets prominent universities with investigations, funding cuts, and other threats, the polling also shows that students across political parties prefer policies from their campus leaders over those from state or federal government leaders (though Republicans are much warmer to federal decisions).
The data contrasts with polling released earlier this year that showed declining confidence in higher education across the political spectrum.
Still, the new polling shows students enrolled in more highly-ranked national universities have less faith in their leaders than counterparts at other institutions.