By Francy Wade
At Anderson Robbins we often find ourselves sandwiched between news makers and news organizations. Our data is the meat in that sandwich. This summer we partnered with WGBH to help its listeners and viewers better understand people’s attitudes toward community college education. Interest in the topic of community colleges had been heightened after a recent announcement from the White House.
In early 2015, President Obama unveiled the $60 billion American College Promise plan. The initiative would provide free tuition for the first two years of community college for students who meet certain financial and educational standards. The plan received mixed reactions from lawmakers.
WGBH wanted to dig deeper and find out how Americans and community college students felt about this educational option. Our survey results were released as part of a special reporting series called “College Material” produced by WGBH News’ education desk, On Campus.
Some of our most interesting findings included:
- A majority of Americans would recommend two-year community college over taking on loan debt to pay for a four-year program.
- Americans perceive community colleges as comparable with public universities in terms of quality and better in terms of value.
- If a high school senior inherited $200,000, six in 10 Americans would advise they pursue a community college education and save the rest of the money, rather than going broke for a four-year degree.
- Roughly half of Americans have taken classes at a community college; nine out of 10 of those students would recommend community college classes.
- Affordability is a factor driving 75 percent of community college students’ enrollment.
- Two-thirds of community college students also work. More than half work 30 or more hours a week.
In addition to providing data, Chris Anderson, President of Anderson Robbins Research, sat down with WGBH education reporter Kirk Carpezza to provide insight into the numbers to help better inform listeners. You can catch Chris’ full interview and the topline results of the poll here.
To learn more about WGBH’s education reports follow On Campus on Twitter and follow us at @ARResearch. Be sure to let us know your opinion. We are always listening.