The majority of people in the United States (61 percent) believe higher education is available to anyone who needs it, but only a small minority (21 percent) believe is affordable, according to a report published last week by Gallup. Here's what the report found:

• Latinos are more optimistic (73 percent) than Whites (58 percent) that higher education is available to all.
• 51 percent of Latinos say higher education is affordable, more than twice as much as the 17 percent of Whites and 19 percent of Blacks.
• Latinos (71 percent) are more likely to say the price of the higher education degree is very important to the overall quality of the institution, compared to 44 percent of Whites.
• Latinos (72 percent) and Blacks (73 percent) are more likely than Whites to say it is very important to increase the proportion of Americans with a degree or professional certificate beyond high school, compared with 56 percent of Whites. 
• Only 20 percent of Latinos between the ages of 25 to 64 have a postsecondary degree, compared to 28 percent of Blacks and 44 percent of Whites. 
• Postsecondary enrollment in the country dropped by 600,000 students from 2013 to 2014, while enrollment for Latinos stayed flat.
• Latinos (56 percent) are more optimistic that colleges and universities are changing to better meet students’ needs, compared to 55 percent of Blacks and 38 percent of Whites.
• Latinos (84 percent) are more likely to agree or strongly agree that having a professional certificate or degree beyond high school is essential for getting a good job, compared to 76 percent of Blacks and 64 percent of Whites. 
• 78 percent of Latinos say having a higher education degree will be more important in the future to get a good job, compared to 74 percent of Blacks and 67 percent of Whites. 
• 44 percent of Latinos are most confident that having only a bachelor’s degree can lead to a good job, compared to 27 percent of Whites.
• Half of Latinos (52 percent) agree the quality of education from an online college or university is just as good as the education received at a traditional college or university, compared to 36 percent of Whites.
• Blacks (53 percent) and Latinos (55 percent) are more optimistic that graduates are well-prepared for success in the workforce, compared with 30 percent of Whites.
• Latinos are significantly more likely (74 percent) than Whites (42 percent) to say that a candidate’s major in college is very important to employers in the hiring process. 
• More than twice as many Latinos (54 percent) as Whites (26 percent) say the college or university that a job candidate graduated from is very important to employers when deciding whom to hire.