Planning & Budgeting

public opinion


April 10, 2012

Scholarship and Web 2.0: Opportunity, Challenge or Both?

Political Science professor Charli Carpenter made an 8 minute video presentation at the International Studies Association (ISA) conference last week in San Diego that has since been making the Internet rounds. The provocative video ‘mash-up’ highlights the changes and challenges that social media and other web technologies have brought to traditional academic work and communication….


March 6, 2012

Majority of Americans Think College Is Beneficial, Though Disagreements Over its Primary Purpose Remain

According to the latest survey by the Pew Center for the People and the Press, conducted in late February, the majority of all Americans think higher education contributes positively to the country, while those identifying themselves as conservative were more likely to doubt its benefits. While 67 percent of Democrats believe college affects the country…


January 30, 2012

Obama’s Blueprint for Higher Education Affordablity

As reported on the UW Office of Federal Relations blog, President Obama made a splash in the higher education community last week when he outlined new proposals for higher education reform in his State of The Union Address and in a speech at the University of Michigan. Many are praising the President’s focus on the…


January 10, 2012

Yes, College is Still Worth It

The New York Times Economix blog has some recent posts discussing new data that continue to illustrate the economic benefits of a college education. Check out all Economix posts that have been tagged with the topic Is College Worth it. These data and conclusions align with our recent OPB brief, Is Undergraduate Education America’s Next…


November 2, 2011

Is Higher Education the Next Bubble?

As we continue to experience a very slow recovery from a deep recession, the ideas of long-time critics of modern, inclusive American higher education who question the value of college for many have gained traction and blossomed into widespread public speculation about whether undergraduate education might be the next economic bubble to threaten the US…


October 6, 2011

University of Washington 25th in World University Rankings

The Times Higher Education/Thomson Reuters World University Rankings for 2011-12 were released today and the University of Washington ranked 25th, one of only five public US institutions to make the top 25 (UC Berkeley was the highest ranking US public at 10). US News and World Report recently ranked the UW 42nd among all national…


August 30, 2011

Despite Challenges, the Class of 2010 is Optimistic About Higher Ed

A new survey conducted by Hart Research Associates for the College Board entitled One Year Out asked a representative sample of 1,507 high school graduates of the class of 2010 about their high school experience and their first year out of high school. Of the sample, 43 percent are at a four-year college, 25 percent…


May 26, 2011

Pew Survey of College Presidents Highlights Divergent Views from General Public

Along with its survey of the general public, the Pew Center recently published a survey of 1,055 two- and four-year, public, private and for-profit college presidents, concerning the quality, accessibility, and affordability of higher education. The two surveys were conducted around the same time and asked similar questions.  However, there were notable differences between the…


May 18, 2011

Recent Pew Survey on College Affordability and Quality Released

The Pew Research Center recently conducted a large telephone survey of 2,142 Americans to gauge opinions about higher education quality, affordability, and importance. While many respondents reported anxiety about affordability, most valued a college education highly and reported a belief that it would provide career benefits in the future.  Some of the key findings of…


March 9, 2011

NYRB Assesses Recent Higher Ed Literature

The New York Review of Books has published a high level review of the recent spate of ‘higher education in crisis’ books. In Our Universities: How Bad? How Good?, Peter Brooks takes a look at common themes contained in four recent publications on the state of higher education in the US. Read the whole piece…



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