A Growing Number of Americans Are Starting to Doubt the Value of Going to College
“The share of Americans who believe colleges and universities have a positive impact on the country has dropped by 14 percentage points since 2020.”
The cost of a college education is already out of the reach of most people, unless they take a ton of loans. Why do it if it isn’t worth it in the end?
NPR reports:
A growing number of Americans are questioning the value of going to college
The share of Americans who believe colleges and universities have a positive impact on the country has dropped by 14 percentage points since 2020.
That’s according to the latest results of an annual survey conducted by New America, a nonpartisan think tank. Since 2017, the organization has been collecting data on Americans’ attitudes about the value of education after high school and how that education should be funded.
Many of the report’s findings have remained stable over time – for example, the general consensus that post-secondary education offers a good return on investment for students remains. But there’s been a steep decline in the overall perception of higher education’s impact on the country.
That decline is driven by economic challenges, according to Sophie Nguyen, who co-authored the report.
The nationally representative survey included about 1,500 adults and was conducted in the spring of 2022, “when people started to feel the effects of gas price increases,” Nguyen says. “People started to feel that an economic recession is actually coming.”
In line with previous years, the survey finds that Democrats and Republicans disagree about multiple aspects of higher education. While 73% of Democrats believe colleges and universities have a positive impact on the country, only 37% of Republicans feel that way.
Americans also remain divided on who should pay for higher education. Most Democrats (77%) say the government should fund higher education because it’s good for society, while the majority of Republicans (63%) say students should pay for post high school education because they benefit from it.
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Comments
“Starting”?! Well, I guess better late than never.
Maybe the “woke” are waking up, or the regular people are waking up the the scourge of “wokeness.”
I’m a retired college professor and my advice to young people would be to learn a trade. Going to college just makes you more stupid.
I second that! Given the huge tuitions and maleducation, a trade is infinitely preferable to some grievance major. If I had to do it over again today, I would definitely be in a trade.