During the 2024 presidential election campaign, YouGov asked registered voters their views on eight topics, including education — the education-related issues that matter most to them, the policies they support, and the candidates they trust.
Among our findings:
- Fewer than one in five voters choose education as one of their top three issues out of eight included in the poll. 24% of Harris supporters and 9% of Trump supporters say education is among their three most important issues.
- Among the specific education issues that the greatest share of Americans name in their top three, school safety tops the list, among voters overall and also among both Harris' and Trump's supporters. Many Harris supporters also prioritize teacher pay and school quality. Trump supporters are more likely to emphasize parent involvement and school curricula.
- Harris is preferred to Trump among voters on handling education, and is particularly more trusted for the specific education issues of diversity and inclusion, teacher pay, and college costs. Harris also is more trusted to handle school safety, which is voters' top education issue. Trump is more trusted to handle religious education, school choice, and parent involvement. The candidates are about equally trusted on school quality and curricula.
- Harris' education policies are more popular than Trump's. Average support for her proposals among all registered voters is roughly equivalent to the average support Trump's policies receive among his own voters.
- Proposals by Harris to increase the number of school-based mental health counselors, increase Pell Grant funding, and fund free preschool are each supported by at least three-quarters of voters, including majorities of Trump supporters.
- Trump's most popular education policy involves expanding school choice options, which a large share of his voters support. His idea to fund free online classes is supported by roughly half of voters, including a greater share of Harris' supporters than of his own.
- Trump's plans to end K-12 teacher tenure and abolish the Department of Education are each supported by fewer than one-third of voters.
- Voters are somewhat more adept at linking Harris' policies to her than they are at linking Trump's to him. However, the two education policies most likely to be associated with her – canceling student debt and increasing HBCU funding — are not among her most popular. And while Trump's proposal to end teacher tenure is unpopular, fewer than half of voters are aware it's his.
Which education issues do voters care about?
In a series of recent surveys, we asked voters to choose up to three issues that are most important to them out of a list of eight: the economy, health care, immigration, crime, social issues, environment and energy, foreign policy, and education.
To better understand which specific education issues voters care about, we asked them to select up to three issues from a list of 10 that are most important to them.
Who do voters trust to handle education?
Since Harris entered the presidential race against Trump, we've tracked who voters trust more to handle various issues, including education.
In our latest survey, we asked voters to tell us which of 10 education-related issues they trust Harris and Trump to handle.
Which education policies do voters support?
We asked voters whether they support or oppose selected education proposals that have been backed by Harris, Trump, or their respective parties. It was not revealed to respondents which candidate was connected to which policy. The policies come from the 2024 Democratic and Republican Party platforms, as well as publicly available interviews, speeches, debates, and online posts by the candidates. For more sourcing information, see the details provided here.
How familiar are voters with Harris' and Trump's education agendas?
After providing their opinions on various education policy plans, respondents were asked which candidate they think supports each one, with options of Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, both, or neither. Respondents who selected "both candidates" are included as saying both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Explore Americans' views on policies across all issue areas:
See other polling related to education
- How Americans feel about AI’s role in their careers and in K-12 schooling
- Which types of debt do Americans want the government to provide relief for?
- Explaining the partisan gap in support for student loan forgiveness
- What role do Americans think race should play in college admissions?
- Who should decide what's included in K-12 public school curriculums?
- Republicans and Democrats disagree over problems facing local public schools
- The most popular solution to teacher shortages? Paying teachers more
- Most college graduates say college makes people more liberal
- Most Americans support canceling at least some student loan debt
- American attitudes on college affirmative action
- Which jobs do Americans think should require a college degree?
- Americans are divided on the impact of college fraternities and sororities
- Americans' rankings of 40 college majors
- Most Americans support requiring high schools to teach financial literacy
- Who do Americans think should have the final say in K-12 U.S. history education?
- How Americans feel about recent debates over transgender children and schools
- How do Americans feel about recent proposals to limit classroom discussion on gender and sexuality?
- On issues relating to transgender youth, Democrats and Republicans are far apart
Curious where voters stand on other issues? Click the links below to learn more.
- Overview of all issues
- Economy
- Health care
- Immigration
- Crime
- Social issues
- Environment and energy
- Foreign policy
See the full results for these surveys
See the full list of the policies and their sources
Methodology: This poll was conducted online on September 20 - 23, 2024 among 1,110 U.S. adult citizens, including 984 registered voters. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to November 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 31% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample, as well as for registered voters, is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty
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