New survey data from Gallup and the Lumina Foundation shows that students are divided in whether they trust their institutional leaders.
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College students are roughly split on whether they think institutional leaders have their best interests at heart, according to new survey data from Gallup and the Lumina Foundation published Thursday. Fifty-five percent of students said they felt administrators act in students’ best interest most or all of the time, while 45 percent said they thought leaders made decisions in their best interest sometimes, rarely or never.
The survey, which examined students’ perceptions of who influences their college experience, found that state and federal officials also played a role. With policy shifts affecting research funding, curriculum, diversity initiatives and more, 58 percent of undergraduate students reported that federal or state policies contributed to at least a moderate change on campus. And although students were divided on trust in campus leadership and the effects of federal and state policies, survey data showed that students from all political parties reported higher approval of campus-led policies compared to state and federal policies. While 79 percent of respondents approved of decisions made by their institution’s leaders, only 56 percent said they approved of such policies made by state leaders and 45 percent approved of federal policy decisions affecting their campus.
