More than two-thirds of Americans say they support using federal funds to expand pre-K education, according to a Gallup survey released Monday.

Seventy percent said the federal government should fund preschool programs to ensure every child has access to one, the poll found. Just over a quarter said they would oppose such a proposal.

{mosads}Just over half of Republicans said they would favor implementing universal access to pre-K, compared to nearly 90 percent of Democrats who said they favor the move. Seventy percent of independents also support such a change.

Nonwhites and lower income people are slightly more likely to favor expanding pre-K than whites and middle and upper-income taxpayers, Gallup found. 

President Obama has called for universal access to preschool education for 4-year-olds.

More than 70 percent of the public said preschool education is extremely or very important to a person’s ability to succeed in life. More than 90 percent, meanwhile, said elementary school, middle school and high school are extremely or very important for people’s success in the long-term.

The poll surveyed 1,013 adults between Aug. 25 and 26, and has a 4-percentage-point margin of error.