This is a very troubling survey from the Pew Research Center. It shows that 58% of Republicans now believe that colleges and universities have a negative effect on the country, while only 36% say they have a positive effect. It hasn't always been like that. Prior to the Trump administration, a majority of Republicans believed colleges and universities had a positive effect on the country.
I can see why they are upset. Most people with a higher education don't like what Trump is doing to this country, and they don't accept the current GOP's ideas (that "trickle-down" economics works for everyone, that a more racist-misogynistic, homophobia view is the correct one, that most of our taxes should be spent on the military, that helping the poor and disadvantaged is a waste of federal dollars, etc.).
It seems that the current Republican Party, ruled by the trumpistas and teabaggers, has decided what they want to believe -- and if those with a higher education disagree, then colleges and universities must be wrong. It never occurs to them that maybe they are the ones who are wrong -- the ones who are having a negative effect on the country.
Fortunately, the general public (55% to 36%) disagrees with the Republicans by a 19 point margin -- and Democrats disagree (72% to 19%) by an even larger 53 point margin.
Have the Republicans decided that their best chance for the future is with a less educated population?
The charts above are from a survey done by the Pew Research Center between June 8th and 18th of a random national sample of 2,504 adults (including 1,050 Republicans and 1,230 Democrats). The margin of error for the entire sample is 2.3 points. It is 3.5 points for Republicans and 3.2 points for Democrats.
