and why is there so much HATE?

A negative view of universities, especially "elite" universities, has been part of Republican politics for a long time, but has intensified in the last few years.  Is this in line with public opinion?  A couple of weeks ago, a Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos Poll asked people about their views of various policies and actions of the Trump administration, including their dispute with Harvard.  The figure shows the percent approving of different policies among college graduates and non-graduates (restricting it to non-Hispanic whites." 

 

The diagonal line represents equal approval among graduates and non-graduates.  Most of the points are above the line, meaning that they have more support among non-graduates.  However, the pattern of relative approval is similar in both groups--the policies that are more popular among college graduates are the same ones that are popular among non-graduates.  The question about Harvard is "The Trump administration is trying to take a greater role in Harvard University’s hiring of faculty, admission of students, and operation of its academic programs. Harvard says this intrudes on its freedom as a private university. Whose side do you take on this issue, the Trump administration’s or Harvard’s?"  42% of non-graduates and 32% of graduates said that that they took the Trump administration's side, making it one of the less popular polices.  You could object that the question was slanted because it summarized Harvard's objections but not the administration's rationale, but another question asked about "increasing the federal government’s role in how private universities operate."  Support for that was even lower, at 34% and 24%, ranking above only "reducing federal funding for medical research."    

Turning to the relatively popular policies, three of them involved immigration:  general handling of the issue, efforts to deport undocumented immigrants, and sending suspected gang members to a prison in El Salvador.  The other was "trying to end efforts to increase diversity in the government and private workplaces."  The educational gaps were relatively large for all of these--that is, they were particularly popular among non-graduates.  

Two of the questions are notable for having a small educational gap.  One was shutting down the department of Education, which actually got less support among non-graduates.  The other was "cutting back environmental regulations on oil and gas drilling," which got 44% approval among non-graduates and 41% among graduates.  

Many observers say that working-class resentment of educated "elites" has been a major factor in Trump's success.  I think that the reality is that most people don't pay much attention to elite universities, and to the extent that they do, they are more positive than negative.  The attacks on universities are a matter of Republican elites following their own inclinations rather than public opinion.  

[Data from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research]