Survey Finds Large Majorities Concerned about Student Debt, Opposed to Cutting Pell Grants and Loan Subsidies

While they believe that higher education is more important today than it was for their parents’ generation, most U.S. adults age 18 to 34 also view college as harder to afford than just five years ago. They feel that people are leaving school with too much debt, and they oppose proposals to cut federal student aid, according to a survey released by three national policy organizations.  Lake Research Partners and Bellwether Research and Consulting conducted the bi-partisan national survey, which was commissioned by The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS), Demos, and Young Invincibles. Among the survey’s key findings and themes:

Higher Education: More Important, Less Affordable, Too Much Debt
More than three in four (76%) young adults say that college has become harder to afford in the past five years, and nearly as many (73%) say that graduates have more student debt than they can manage.  When asked about the importance of college and other education and training after high school, about eight in 10 say it is more important than a generation ago. Whether or not they have a college degree or student debt, most young people share these views and concerns.

Don’t Cut Student Aid
Opposition to cutting access to Pell Grants, as has been proposed by some in Congress, is strong and crosses party lines.  The same holds true for charging students interest on federal loans while they are still in school.  Even when presented as ways to reduce the federal deficit, three in four (75%) young adults do not want to see Pell Grants cut, and 73 percent oppose charging students with financial need interest on their federal loans before they graduate.

Make Higher Education More Affordable
Young adults also believe that Congress should act to make education more affordable.  In a companion poll released by Demos and Young Invincibles, 84 percent say making college and other education and training after high school more affordable should be priorities for Congress. More than two thirds of all young adults (68%) say college affordability should be Congress’ top priority. Nearly nine in ten (88%) young adults also support making college and training more affordable as a way to strengthen the economy.

“Young adults today are the first generation, as a whole, facing downward economic mobility compared to their parents’ generation,” said Tamara Draut, vice president of policy and programs for Demos. “And today, as job quality has declined for all but those with college degrees, higher education is too often a debt-for-diploma system that puts an immediate obstacle in front of new graduates as they start their working lives, and makes it harder for many young people to complete their degrees.”