Higher Education

While Americans see some aspects of U.S. power more positively than people elsewhere, they offer more negative views in other areas.

Republicans are critical of how major institutions, from large corporations and tech companies to universities and K-12 public schools, are affecting the U.S.

Among all U.S. adults, 63% favor making tuition at public colleges free, including 37% who strongly favor the proposal.

College graduates without a college-educated parent have lower incomes and less wealth, on average, than those with a parent who has a bachelor’s or higher degree.

The challenges of a COVID-19 economy are clear for 2020 college graduates, who have experienced downturns in employment and labor force participation.

Nearly half of Black adults say the economic impact of the pandemic will make achieving their financial goals harder in the long term.

Black and Hispanic workers remain underrepresented in STEM jobs compared with their share of the U.S. workforce.

The higher education pipeline suggests a long path is ahead for increasing diversity, especially in fields like computing and engineering.

The charts below allow for comparisons between racial or ethnic groups over time on a range of measures including educational attainment, household income, life expectancy and others. You may select any two groups at a time for comparison.

A median of 62% of adults across the 14 countries surveyed this summer generally believe most people can be trusted.