By Kris Kurtenbach, Founding Partner

The 2024 election has emphasized the importance of educational opportunity—and the repercussions if we don’t start listening.

The margins are significant, and they indicate that the fundamental diploma divide in American society has significant social implications. In exit polls, people without a college education often reported feeling more economically vulnerable and excluded from opportunities they can see but can’t grasp in an economy and society that seems weighted against them. And a corresponding disdain for higher education in America is something the political right actively encourages.

The thing is, though, a college education is still broadly understood as the ticket to better economic outcomes for individuals and their families. And, often, the very politicians who rail against colleges and universities, or question the value of higher education, themselves benefit from having a degree.

They also know that the more college graduates we have, the stronger our economies will be, to the tune of billions of dollars in annual gains for states. Business and industry leaders know that they need more college-educated workers to build out the present and future workforce. But too often, the national conversation about college is not about value but about values.

So how do we change the conversation about college education and shift it away from culture-war division back to the language of opportunity that feels inclusive and accessible? How do we help more people see higher education as an opportunity for them?

In public opinion research done in the past year in one of those swing states, my team found that shifting away from using the term “college” and replacing it with “education and training after high school” has nearly universal appeal to voters—among Republicans, Independents, and Democrats, urban, rural, men, women, across racial and income categories. If “college” is seen as elite and potentially out of reach, “education and training after high school” appeals to people—regardless of political affiliation—as an accessible pathway to sharing in America’s prosperity.

It’s not hard to see why. In the same way that education is a default social threshold, it is also the means of crossing that threshold. Education and training after high school lead to opportunity and upward mobility. Access to that learning starts with equitable access to early learning and extends through high school and to college. 

Cutting through the noise and taking real steps toward putting meaningful opportunities in reach for everyone who wants them will be essential to bridging not just the learning and skills divide in this country but also to bridging political and social divides. 

If you’re interested in mobilizing support for specific education and learning improvements—from early learning through high school graduation, in and out of school—or helping more people get access to the postsecondary education and training they need to succeed in a changing workforce, or if you’re interested in telling compelling stories that demonstrate results, shaping public opinion or making a case for the value of education and learning for all children and adults, or fostering meaningful dialogue through data and digital strategies, then Collaborative is here to help. There’s a lot of work to be done.