A large majority of Wyoming residents say the University of Wyoming has a strong level of connection 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 young people to participate in Wyoming’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 87 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. 29-Oct. 25 and includes 660 responses from randomly selected Wyoming adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.7 percentage points for questions asked of all respondents, after accounting for weighting, and is larger for subgroups. Results are weighted by gender, age, county, party affiliation and education to reflect Wyoming’s adult population; percentages exclude respondents who said they did not know or declined to answer.

“We so appreciate the support and confidence of the people in Wyoming for their university,” UW President Shane Reeves says. “At a time when higher education in general is suffering from a loss of public confidence, it is wonderful to see the passion for Wyoming’s university among the people we serve.”

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?” -- 51 percent responded “most of the time” and 12 percent said “all of the time,” for a total of 63 percent. That’s up from a total of 59 percent in the 2024 survey, when 50 percent said “most of the time” and 9 percent said “all of the time.” Just 10 percent responded “very little” or “never” this year, while 27 percent said they weren’t sure, down from 31 percent two years ago.

In response to another question -- “Is higher education having a positive or negative effect on the way things are going in the country these days?” -- 50 percent responded “positive” and 24 percent “negative,” with 26 percent seeing neither or no influence. In 2024, 44 percent responded “positive” and 33 percent “negative,” with 22 percent seeing neither or no influence.

Asked to rate UW’s performance in engaging with their communities, 20 percent of respondents said “excellent” and 40 percent “good,” for a total of 60 percent. The number of people responding “fair” to the question was 30 percent, with 10 percent saying “poor.”

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,” 18 percent said “excellent” and 49 percent “good” -- 67 percent combined. Responding “fair” were 28 percent, with just 5 percent saying “poor.”

Asked how well the university appeals to Wyoming students and their families as a desirable place to attend college, 24 percent responded “extremely well” and 63 percent “quite well,” for a total of 87 percent. Twelve percent said “not too well” and 1 percent “not well at all.”

Twenty-two percent rated UW’s performance as excellent in “providing an excellent undergraduate education,” with 55 percent rating it good -- 77 percent combined. Twenty percent responded “fair” and just 3 percent “poor.”

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,” 17 percent responded “excellent” and 41 percent “good” -- 58 percent combined. Thirty-five percent said “fair” and 7 percent “poor.”
-- Regarding the university’s efforts to maintain a safe campus for students, employees and visitors, 28 percent rated the performance as excellent and 55 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 48 percent “good,” for a total of 62 percent. Some 27 percent said “fair” and 11 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 measure attitudes toward government, elected officials, candidates and contemporary policy issues.

Respondents were drawn from a random sample of cell phone and landline numbers and invited by email, mail and phone. About half completed the survey online and half by live-interviewer telephone; 95 percent of phone interviews were with cellphone users.