Striking findings from 2025
Here’s a look back at 2025 through 12 of our most striking research findings.
Education
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Education
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Growing share of Americans say the U.S. higher education system is headed in the wrong direction
In both parties, the share that say the higher education system is going in the wrong direction has gone up by at least 10 percentage points since 2020.
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Americans tend to view international students positively, though some support limitations
Most Americans (79%) think it’s good for U.S. colleges and universities to accept international students.
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A look at women’s colleges in the U.S.
The number of women’s colleges in the U.S. has declined since the mid-20th century, a result of many becoming coeducational, merging with other institutions or simply closing their doors.
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About 1 in 6 U.S. teachers work second jobs
The share of teachers working second jobs outside the classroom did not change much from before the pandemic.
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Americans’ support for school cellphone bans has ticked up since last year
More than four-in-ten Americans (44%) back bans on student cellphone use during the entire school day, up from 36% last fall.
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Support for Christian prayer in U.S. public schools varies widely by state
Just over half of U.S. adults (52%) say they favor allowing public school teachers to lead their classes in prayers that refer to Jesus.
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What the data says about the U.S. Department of Education
The Education Department is the main conduit for federal aid to public K-12 schools and a major lender to college students.
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U.S. adults differ in how much they say certain things should be emphasized for boys and girls
Similar shares of adults say there’s too little emphasis on encouraging boys and girls to be leaders.
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The Gender Gap in Teen Experiences
Teen girls and boys in the U.S. face different pressures and report different experiences at school, though they have many of the same goals in life.
