A plurality of Americans believe schools are too lenient towards pro-Hamas professors.
More Americans believe leading academic institutions offer a negative presentation of America’s core values than a positive one, and a plurality believe schools are too lenient on pro-Hamas professors.
WHY IT MATTERS – Pro-Hamas protests on leading university and college campuses have ignited a debate surrounding the Immigration and Nationality Act for international students.
THE NUMBERS – A Scott Rasmussen National Survey from Oct. 23 – 24, asked Americans if leading colleges and universities have been too harsh or too lenient towards professors sympathetic with Hamas and their attacks on Israel. It revealed the following:
- 20% – somewhat/much too harsh
- 37% – somewhat/much too lenient
- 33% – uncertain
When asked if the teaching and culture at leading colleges and universities presents a positive or negative view of America’s core values:
- 32% – somewhat/very positive presentation of American core values
- 43% – somewhat/very negative presentation of American core values
- 24% – uncertain how they present American core values
When asked if most of the professors at leading colleges and universities support or oppose America’s core values:
- 33% – believe most professors support America’s core values
- 35% – believe most professors oppose America’s core values
- 32% – uncertain whether most professors support/oppose America’s core values
THE BOTTOM LINE – The pro-Hamas protests on college and university campuses underscore the already growing distrust in American higher education.
This CounterpollingTM survey of 1,000 Registered Voters was conducted online by Scott Rasmussen on October 23-24, 2023. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. Certain quotas were applied, and the sample was lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, internet usage, and political party to reasonably reflect the nation’s population of Registered Voters. Other variables were reviewed to ensure that the final sample is representative of that population.
The margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/- 3.1 percentage points. This survey was paid for by RMG Research, Inc. as part of the service provided for our Gold Circle Members.