By suzanne downing 
Americans are increasingly skeptical about the value of higher education, with fewer than four in 10 now saying a college degree is “very important,” according to new data from Gallup.
The nationwide survey, conducted Aug. 1–20, found just 35% of adults place high importance on a college education. Another 40% say it is “fairly important,” while 24% describe it as “not too important.”
The findings continue a steep decline that began more than a decade ago. In 2010, 75% of Americans considered college very important. That figure dropped to 70% in 2013, 53% in 2019, and has now fallen to roughly one-third. At the same time, the share saying college is not too important has surged from 4% in 2010 to nearly one-quarter today.
The poll also found that parents of children under 18 have similar views, with 38% calling college very important, 40% fairly important, and 21% not too important.
All major demographic groups now view higher education as less essential than they once did. Younger adults between 18 and 34 registered the sharpest drop between 2013 and 2019. Since then, older adults have caught up, and today only about a third of each age group rates college as very important.
Historically, women, racial minorities, college graduates, and Democrats have been more likely than other groups to stress the importance of higher education. While they remain more supportive on average, even among these groups fewer than half now say college is very important.
The decline in support comes amid a growing debate over whether universities prepare students for careers or act as ideological battlegrounds. Rising tuition costs, concerns over student debt, and questions about the return on investment have also fueled doubts.
The Gallup report suggests that, as college becomes less central in the minds of many Americans, the nation may be entering a new era in how it views education, indoctrination, work, and opportunity.
Suzanne Downing
Because! So called educators lowered the standard of education so low these past fifty years that reading skills are not required at college.
College used to be for the few students determined; students who were the best readers and thinkers out of their peers
Majority of all GenZ and GenAlpha and the past Millennials when they were college students shouldn’t been in college. If you are born and raised in. Alaska and went to a public school I can tell you none of Alaska students are college ready because they can’t read well. Most Alaskans reading skills are like this reading one. word. at. a. time instead of as my daughter said how she reads she absorbs the words in what I think in segments or groups enabling her to read faster than the average Alaskan. This is the kind of speed college ready students should be able to read at.
I can’t stress enough reading aloud and daily to young kids from in the womb to 8. If more parents read like I did to my daughter before she could read, then All children can grow up to read and think as she does which is incredible to watch to recognize the difference between an adult who was read to before he could read versus the adult no one read to him before he could read basics at. one. word. at, a. time being a slow reader for the rest of his life
Is a college degree necessary? No, you can survive just fine without one, but you may find your options much more limited than if you do. I know two young men from Alaska, both very smart, and who attended the same schools. One went on to engineering school, and the other skipped college. Result? The college grad travels the world working in Tech, has lived in several major cities, bought a nice house, has a wide circle of professional friends, and has moved up nicely in a global industry. The other has had a mixed career working in gift shops and auto shops in Alaska, as he will likely do for the rest of his days. College is not for everyone, but it does really teach one how to learn, it drives curiosity, and it inspires a love of learning. It’s generally a wider world for those who go this route.
I supposed once upon a time the term “higher education” rang true, I’m not sure that is the case anymore. Even saying continuing education might be a stretch too far nowadays.
When a person can go into a field that the coming ‘AI’ revolution won’t soon make obsolete while simultaneously taking on a six figure debt load under high interest rates without so much as a promise of a job, let alone a well paying job. Why would any thinking individual saddle themselves with what amounts to a piece of paper you can put on a wall that shows their ability to think for themselves is, at best, severely compromised?
Were I a young man coming out of high school today, I’d find a trade school that offers on the job paid training and a comfortable six figure income by the time my schooling was complete. In comparison to going to an indoctrination center where freedom of thought is squelched and the status quo must be accepted unquestionably all while paying astronomically high tuition rates, it’s surprising that more people didn’t turn away from “higher education” sooner.
There is more value to society today in tradecraft than there is in 70% of what is taught in colleges. The hard sciences: Yes, college is necessary for most. Engineering, medicine, basic scientific research. Philosophy? ‘Journalism?’ Gender studies? There is a litany of coursework that might be tossed in the dustbin of bad ideas, save for the historical reference: So that we never repeat these mistakes again.
I dropped out of high school, worked in the trades until I retired. Non union. I am retired now and doing better than many of my collage educated ‘professional’ friends, neighbors and family and coworkers. Life is what you make of it. It is seldom an accident.