More than half of Americans tell Trump to stay away from colleges and disapprove of his higher education attacks
A new AP-NORC poll finds that the majority of Americans disapprove of President Donald Trump’s stance on colleges and universities as he intensifies threats to cut federal funding unless schools comply with his political agenda.
More than half of Americans, 56 percent, disapprove of the Trump administration’s approach to higher education, while about four in 10 approve, reflecting his overall job approval ratings.
Since taking office in January, Trump has sought to enforce change at universities he claims have become hotbeds of liberalism and antisemitism.
Harvard University is the most recent target. The Trump administration has frozen over $2.2 billion in federal grants, threatened to strip the school’s tax-exempt status, and demanded broad policy changes. The university has characterized the government’s demands as a threat to the autonomy that the Supreme Court has long granted to American universities.
The Trump administration has also cut off funding to other elite colleges, including Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Cornell University, citing their handling of pro-Palestinian activism and transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports.
This targeting of universities appears out of step with the wider American public, which sees such institutions as key to scientific research, new ideas, and innovation.
About six in 10 U.S. adults say colleges and universities make more of a positive contribution to medical and scientific research than a negative one, and a similar share favors maintaining federal funding for scientific research.
Freddy Ortega, 66, a Democrat and a retired military veteran in Columbus, Georgia, told the AP: “The way [Trump] took away all that money in funding, impacting things that Harvard has been working on for the betterment of the world.”
“One man should not have that much power,” Ortega continued. “This is something for Congress to deal with.”
Ortega, who is Hispanic, also expressed concern regarding Trump’s attempts to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion programs throughout U.S. society. “I came up in the military. I know the good that those programs do,” he said. “It changes the direction that people’s lives are going to take.”
For Republicans, the issue is more complex. The president’s approach generally resonates strongly with them, even more so than his handling of the economy, with eight in 10 Republicans approving of his approach to colleges, many of whom see universities as places where conservative ideas are silenced and liberalism runs unchecked. Six in 10 say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about liberal bias on campus.
However, on withholding federal funding from schools unless they bow to Trump’s demands, the numbers are significantly different. About half are in favor, while about one-quarter are opposed, and a similar share is neutral.
“I’m all for it,” said Republican voter Hengameh Abraham, 38, a mother of two in Roseville, California. She supports cutting federal funds and opposes DEI programs, saying she emigrated to America from Iran as a teenager and worked hard to succeed in school without the help of affirmative action programs.
“Your racial identity, nationality, and background should not be a factor in getting accepted to college or getting a job,” said Abraham. She endorses Trump’s focus on campus antisemitism. When pro-Palestinian protests swept through U.S. colleges last year, she noted that some of the demonstrators’ messaging was anti-U.S.
