Alliance President and CEO Mike Gavin's Advice for Rebuilding Trust in Higher Ed

Public trust in higher education rebounded slightly in the last year but remains at historic lows. And presidents know it: According to Inside Higher Ed’s 2026 Survey of College and University Presidents with Hanover Research, just 16 percent of leaders think higher ed has been at least moderately effective in responding to declining public trust—a modest increase from last year’s 8 percent. Just 2 percent of presidents say higher ed has been highly effective at addressing this issue.

What can higher ed do to reaffirm public trust in a way that registers? Inside Higher Ed reached out to nearly a dozen leaders thinking about trust in different ways to get their recommendations. Many of their suggestions overlap, but at least four core themes emerge: walk the talk on value, lean into public concerns and act on them, be transparent and think local, and build authentic buzz by focusing on the user experience.

Alliance President and CEO Mike Gavin's comments are below. The full article is available here.

Focus on Relationships, Including by Practicing Transparency and ‘Radical Localism’

Mike Gavin, president and CEO of the Alliance for Higher Education and former college president

Rebuilding public trust in higher education and reclaiming its role as the fifth pillar of democracy requires going beyond saying more positive things more frequently to more audiences. We need to work toward practicing radical localism and operational transparency.

First, trust is about relationships. It’s the product of grassroots efforts that ripple across disparate audiences, bridged by people, not news stories. My advice to college leaders is to intentionally convene and invite your community in. Invest in consistent programming that demonstrates your breadth, depth and impact, as well as their interests—whether that be a speaker series, hosting a school district’s science fair, creating space for industry to work alongside students and faculty, or ensuring your doors are open for Saturday morning youth soccer and basketball games. Create an environment where, for example, your student a cappella groups are empowered to perform at your region’s elementary schools. The subliminal message to the audience is: There’s a place for you here, and at institutions like ours, and we are in service of our communities.

Second, while institutions are not intentionally opaque, managing a myriad of funding streams, operational and regulatory requirements, and stakeholder needs naturally leads to a lack of simplicity for an end user like a student. Polling data shows that the public’s top issue with regard to higher education is affordability. Meanwhile, the majority of college students in this country go to a community college or local public four-year institution—far more affordable pathways than the viral six-figure price tag headlines. This breakdown is a symptom of a lack of trust, not its cause.

Community college leaders will say they do a fantastic job nurturing student success, which is true but is paired with the fact that the overwhelming majority of their students do not graduate within three years. Wealthier and selective institutions say that their cost of attendance is far lower than sticker price, which is also true but doesn’t take away the anxiety of sticker shock.

Leaders must make every effort to be up front about an institution’s operations. This means making financial aid predictable and easy to understand and being candid about student success timelines and support structures. Word of mouth is the most powerful tool we have. Every faculty member who feels supported and free to use their expertise to teach and research, and every student who graduates, feels they were treated with respect and successfully enters the labor market is worth far more in rebuilding trust than ads touting ROI or the number of students who receive financial aid. We need to be introspective, name our shortcomings, identify our strengths and constantly work to address the former and amplify the latter.