In an effort to refute the claim that minority group parents do not value higher education as highly as other parents, this study surveyed 1,015 adults in the general public, as well as Hispanic (n=202), African American (n=202), and white (n=201) parents of high school students. Opinions centered around the following: (1) higher education is generally perceived as extremely important, especially to parents of high school students, and African American and Hispanic parents give education a higher priority than do white parents; (2) the process of earning a degree is inherently valuable and is not merely a symbolic, largely meaningless exercise; (3) the public tends to emphasize the individual responsibility of college students in areas such as remediation and financial matters, but feels that schools should assist students who are legitimately having difficulties; (4) paying for college is difficult, especially for the poor, but most people believe that anyone who really wants a college education can get one; and (5) although a majority of respondents believe higher education is delivering a valuable service, they are largely unfamiliar with details of higher education administration and financing often debated by the nation's leaders. Appended are data tables of survey results and information on the methodology. (Contains 11 endnotes.) (RAB)