Restoring the Promise of Higher Education is Key to Bridging Political Divisions
Amid an especially fraught presidential election, polarizing armed conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, and deepening political divides over issues like immigration, the economy, and even our democracy itself, the nation is facing a politically charged moment that shows no signs of abating. Tribalism , as is an intense—and historic—distrust of many of our nation’s , including Congress, the Supreme Court, and the presidency. Higher education has not been spared from this crisis of faith, of Americans now expressing confidence in the country’s system of colleges and universities.
Higher education has also not avoided the increasing partisan strife roiling the country. Indeed, many campuses have served as epicenters of over the Israel-Hamas war, placing colleges at the center of national debates over free speech and U.S. foreign policy. While summer might provide a brief respite, students’ return in the fall—coinciding with one of the most consequential elections in U.S. history—promises to reignite campus tensions. It should not be surprising that colleges are so deeply embroiled in these critical issues, however. For decades, colleges and universities have served as battlegrounds for political discontent, spanning issues both related to and beyond the realm of higher education.
This entanglement stems from the intertwined nature of the challenges facing American democracy and higher education. They are two sides of the same coin. And while higher education stands at the center of so many of our country’s most fierce debates, it may also hold the key to resolving our disunity.
Institutions have long been scrutinized for their role in shaping the minds of America’s young people. Now, after years of highly publicized debates around student loan forgiveness and , Americans are whether higher education is worth the debt and expense. Enrollment is . This growing skepticism toward higher education and the erosion of our public discourse are, in some ways, both symptoms of diminishing college outcomes. As more students struggle to reap the benefits of completing college, disillusionment with higher education spreads. And with fewer Americans attending college, even fewer have access to the robust civic education it provides.
Americans across the political spectrum agree that the country is facing a civic awareness. But healing America’s partisan divide requires more than just decreasing the temperature, calming the political rhetoric, and waiting for the election to pass. America's civic and educational infrastructure needs repair on a deeper, more fundamental level. Bridging this divide requires a renewed commitment to teaching college students about what it means to participate in a democracy—and to ensuring more learners complete their education so they can put that knowledge to work.
Higher education already plays an important, if sometimes overlooked, role in supporting civic life and the democratic process. Americans with a college education are more likely to vote, volunteer, and . They are also less susceptible to . Higher education leaders should now intensify their efforts to infuse civic learning and democratic engagement across the curriculum.
For example, colleges can partner with organizations such as the to encourage civic participation and foster free and democratic discourse on college campuses. By engaging faculty, college advisors, and student affairs leaders, colleges can help to make civic engagement a core part of the student experience.
Research has shown the many benefits of this approach. A from the American Association of Colleges and Universities found that college students who take part in community-based and civically engaged practices do better in school and graduate with a greater sense of civic purpose and responsibility. The practical problem-solving, communication, and teamwork skills they learn through these endeavors are highly valued in the workplace and remain essential for sustaining our democratic processes.
In order to restore the compact between higher education and our democratic system, teaching students about the importance of civics and democracy is necessary, but insufficient. Although higher education has made significant progress in expanding access, it has stumbled on outcomes and completion. More than 40 million Americans now have some college credit, but no degree. For these learners, the promise of higher education has been an empty one. To deliver on its dual mission of economic mobility and civic participation, higher education must dramatically raise the bar on student outcomes and completion.
Moving the needle for these students will require institutions to provide credit for prior learning and to build a more affordable system so more students can attend college full-time, enhancing student support in ways that recognize the increasingly diverse challenges facing today’s students. These efforts should center on the goal of creating sustainable pathways to completion that are aligned with students’ personal and career aspirations and structured to accommodate their busy lives. Only then will we see a decline in the onerous number of students who started but haven’t completed their degrees.
Making good on the interconnected democratic and economic promises of higher education requires ensuring that students not only graduate with the skills needed to thrive in the workforce but also emerge as engaged and informed citizens. Restoring faith in an institution as critical as higher education may not be enough to completely break the partisan spell we find ourselves under, but it can show millions of Americans a way forward.
