Statewide Survey Shows Improved UW Connection with Wyoming Communities

A large majority of Wyoming residents say the University of Wyoming has a strong level of engagement with their communities and acts in ways that reflect Wyoming values, new survey results show.

Additionally, most Wyomingites say UW does an excellent or good job of providing strong undergraduate education, preparing graduates to participate in the state’s workforce and keeping tuition as low as possible, according to the biennial election-year survey conducted by the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center at UW.

And 88 percent of survey respondents answered “extremely well” or “quite well” when asked how well UW appeals to Wyoming students and their families as a desirable place to attend college.

This year’s statewide survey was conducted Sept. 24-Oct. 27, yielding 739 responses from randomly selected Wyoming residents. The margin of error for the distribution of responses on any individual survey question is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points. Men and women from all age groups and all counties in Wyoming are proportionally represented in the survey data. The final survey data have been weighted to reflect the actual population distribution in Wyoming on gender, age, county of residence, party affiliation and education.

“During a time when higher education is increasingly perceived negatively nationwide, we’re delighted to see overall positive responses from the people of Wyoming about their university,” UW President Ed Seidel says. “We’re particularly pleased to see improvement in perceptions of UW’s engagement with the state’s communities, as we are working on a number of levels to enhance our connections with and service to the state.”

Asked to rate UW’s performance in engaging with their communities, 20 percent of respondents said “excellent” and 44 percent “good,” for a total of 64 percent. That compares with 15 percent “excellent” and 43 percent “good” in the 2022 survey, totaling 58 percent, meaning there has been a 6 percent increase in the past two years. The number of people responding “fair” or “poor” to the question fell from 42 percent in 2022 to 36 percent in 2024.

Earlier this year, UW’s efforts to connect with Wyoming communities were recognized nationally by the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which selected the university as having met the criteria for the 2024 Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement.

In response to this question -- “Based on what you know about the University of Wyoming, how often does the university act in ways that reflect Wyoming values?” -- 50 percent responded “most of the time” and 9 percent said “all of the time,” for a total of 59 percent. Just 9 percent responded “very little” or “never,” while 31 percent said they weren’t sure. The 2024 survey was the first time this question was asked.

In response to another new question -- “Is higher education having a positive or negative effect on the way things are going in the country these days?” -- 44 percent responded “positive” and 33 percent “negative,” with 22 percent seeing neither or no influence.

UW continues to receive particularly high marks for what it offers to students.

Asked to rate UW’s performance in “educating young people to participate in Wyoming’s workforce,” 23 percent said “excellent” and 46 percent “good” -- 69 percent combined.

Twenty-five percent rated UW’s performance as excellent in “providing an excellent undergraduate education,” with 53 percent rating it good -- 77 percent combined. Twenty-one percent responded “fair” and just 2 percent “poor.”

On the issue of how well UW educates young people to participate in Wyoming’s workforce, 23 percent rated UW’s performance as excellent and 46 percent as good -- 69 percent combined.

Respondents were asked to rate UW’s performance -- excellent, good, fair or poor -- on several other issues.

-- In rating UW’s performance on the topic of “keeping tuition as low as possible,” 21 percent responded “excellent” and 40 percent “good” -- 61 percent combined. Thirty-one percent said “fair” and 8 percent “poor.”

-- Regarding the university’s efforts to maintain a safe campus for students, employees and visitors, 30 percent rated the performance as excellent and 53 percent as good -- 83 percent combined.

-- When it comes to “being responsive to the needs of the state and its citizens,” 14 percent responded “excellent” and 49 percent “good,” for a total of 63 percent. Some 30 percent said “fair” and 7 percent “poor.”

Complete survey results can be found here.

Biennial surveys of Wyoming residents are conducted by UW’s School of Politics, Public Affairs and International Studies in partnership with the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center. The questions focus on attitudes toward government, elected officials, candidates for office and contemporary policy issues. Questions regarding the survey can be directed to WyOpinion@uwyo.edu.

A random sample of all cellular and land-line telephones was generated for the UW survey. Selected respondents were contacted via email, mail and phone to complete the survey, with 59 percent of responses on the web and the remaining 41 percent via live-interviewer telephone (92 percent cellular).

“This approach to the survey methodology gives every person in Wyoming with a phone an equal probability of selection for the survey,” says Brian Harnisch, director of the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center. “Survey respondents accurately reflect the statewide population in terms of general demographic characteristics that include age, gender and county of residence, as well as other benchmarks such as party affiliation and educational attainment.”