AAPI adults are concerned about changes to college landscape and intergenerational progress
AAPI adults continue to view a college degree as integral to improving their future, but are concerned with federal funding cuts to higher education. Overall, AAPI adults are more pessimistic about the state of the country, the national economy, and their own personal finances than they were in 2023.
Topics covered: education; economic conditions; personal finances; intergenerational progress
Key Survey Takeaways
- 57% of AAPI adults are concerned about restrictions on free speech on college campuses and 56% are concerned about federal government cuts to university research.
- Like last year, most AAPI adults continue to believe a college degree is important to getting a good job that can support a family (88%), increasing wealth (87%), and being an informed and engaged citizen (78%).
- 34% of AAPI adults say it is likely that young people today will have a better standard of living than their parents, while 66% say it is unlikely.
- 51% of AAPI adults think their own personal finances will get worse in the next year, compared with just 20% who said the same in December 2023.
- 63% of AAPI adults would prefer a bigger government providing more services, while 36% would prefer a smaller government with fewer services.
- Most AAPI adults are in favor of tax cuts for lower-income (59%) and middle-income households (57%), while most oppose tax cuts for higher-income households (66%).
Views on Education Policy
AAPI adults continue to view a college degree as essential or important to improving their future prospects, including the ability to change jobs more easily in the long term (88%), getting a good job to support a family (88%), increasing wealth and minimizing debt (87%), and being an informed and engaged citizen (78%).
AAPI communities are concerned about many aspects of the higher education landscape. About 6 in 10 are concerned about increases in student loan debt (63%), restrictions on free speech on college campuses (57%), and federal government cuts to university research (56%). And most AAPI adults are opposed to proposals for cutting federal funding for campuses with DEI programs (65%) and arresting or deporting students involved with on-campus protests (62%). There is less opposition to cutting funding to universities accused of allowing antisemitic speech or for those allowing transgender athletes in women’s sports. Still, more AAPI adults oppose than support these policies.
Within the AAPI community, younger adults age 18 to 29 are more likely than those over the age of 30 to oppose certain federal actions on college campuses, including arresting or deporting students involved with on-campus protests and cutting federal funding to colleges and universities with DEI programs or that allow transgender athletes in women’s sports.
And when it comes to education in public K-12 schools, most AAPI adults are in favor of teaching about the history of AAPI communities in the U.S. (75%), the history of slavery, racism, and segregation (73%), and, although to a lesser degree, issues related to sex and sexuality (57%). Six in 10 oppose individual school boards restricting which subjects teachers and students can discuss in the classroom. These findings are nearly identical to those from a year ago.
Views on Economy and State of the Country
Overall, AAPI adults are much more pessimistic about the state of the country and their own personal finances than they were a year and a half ago. About 7 in 10 think the way things are going in the country overall (73%) and the national economy (74%) will get worse in the next year, and 51% think their own personal finances will get worse. In December 2023, about 4 in 10 thought the way things are going in the country overall and the national economy would get worse, and just 20% thought their personal finances would get worse.
Similar to 2023, only about a quarter of AAPI adults are very confident that they can keep up with their expenses (28%) or would be able to pay an unexpected medical expense (25%), and 2 in 10 are confident they have enough savings for their retirement (20%). Though many are somewhat confident. Confidence in being able to find a good job if someone wanted to is down compared to 2023. Half of AAPI adults are not confident they could find another job these days compared to a third who felt that way a year ago.
AAPI adults are also concerned about the impacts that tariffs will have on the economy and their finances. Eighty-three percent say tariffs will hurt them and their family when it comes to the prices they pay, and 62% say tariffs will hurt job opportunities for U.S. workers.
Taxes and Size of Government
The survey also reveals that 63% of AAPI adults would prefer a bigger government providing more services, while just 36% would prefer a smaller government with fewer services. And about half say the government is spending too little on Medicare, Medicaid, and housing and food assistance for low-income people. Though many are skeptical that the government can spend taxes in the best interest of people like them. Just 5% are very confident in the federal government, 7% in their state government, 11% in their local government, and 14% in their local school district. Although confidence is low, AAPI adults are more likely to express being somewhat confident in their state and local government, as well as their local school district. About 4 in 10 say they are somewhat confident in each of these groups, compared to just 18% who say the same about the federal government.
Two-thirds agree that higher income households pay too little in federal taxes. Conversely, most agree middle-income households (63%) and their own household (57%) pay too much, and about half agree that lower-income households pay too much (48%). And about 6 in 10 would favor tax cuts for lower-income and middle-income households, as well as small businesses, while two-thirds would oppose tax cuts for higher-income households and large corporations.
Study Methodology
The nationwide study was conducted by The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and AAPI Data from April 7–14, 2025, using the Amplify AAPI Monthly survey drawing from NORC’s Amplify AAPI® Panel designed to be representative of the U.S. Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander household population. Online and telephone interviews were offered in English, the Chinese dialects of Mandarin and Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Korean with 1,094 Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders aged 18 and older living in the United States. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.8 percentage points.