A nationwide poll revealed last month that almost six out of 10 Canadians said spending on post-secondary education should be increased even if it means paying higher taxes.

The semi-annual CAUT survey by Harris/Decima also found a majority of Canadians be­lieve the quality of post-secondary education is suffering because of underfunding.

Canadians are also concerned governments aren’t doing enough to ensure access, with nearly 50 per cent of respondents saying the most important thing governments can do for post-secondary education is to lower tuition fees.

An equal number don’t believe university and college teachers earn too much, with 55 per cent of those surveyed saying they were opposed to a freeze on academic staff compensation; the same number think freezing salaries would compromise the educational environment.

“As the poll demonstrated, Canadians are concerned about the quality of post-secondary education and want government to do more to improve access,” said CAUT executive director James Turk.

“The majority also understand that imposing wage freezes on academic staff, as some pro­vinces are trying to do, will just further erode quality,” he added.

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The Harris/Decima poll is based on a telephone survey of 2,000 randomly selected Canadian adults conducted between Nov. 11 and 21, 2010. The margin of error — which measures sampling variability — is ± 2.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20.