Americans’ views on higher education have reversed sharply in less than a generation, as the enormous cost and uncertainty about finding work have turned college into a significant life risk.
According to a recent poll from NBC News, 63% of registered voters agreed that a four-year degree is “not worth the cost because people often graduate without specific job skills and with a large amount of debt to pay off.” That’s up from 47% in 2017 and 40% in 2013.
Meanwhile, just 33% agreed with the idea that a degree is “worth the cost because people have a better chance to get a good job and earn more money over their lifetime.” That’s down from 49% in 2017 and 53% in 2013.
Even Americans who have earned college degrees flipped, with only 46% now saying that obtaining one is worth the cost versus 63% in 2013.
“It’s just remarkable to see attitudes on any issue shift this dramatically, and particularly on a central tenet of the American dream, which is a college degree. Americans used to view a college degree as aspirational — it provided an opportunity for a better life. And now that promise is really in doubt,” said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted the poll with Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies.
“What is really surprising about it is that everybody has moved. It’s not just people who don’t have a college degree,” Horwitt added.
In fact, attitudes among Republicans, independents and Democrats have all shifted against getting a four-year degree, but especially among Republicans.
And 71% of Americans without a college degree now say it’s not worth the cost versus 26% who think it is, after splitting almost evenly in 2013.
Separate data still shows that college graduates overall earn more money and have lower rates of unemployment than non-graduates.
But joblessness among recent grads has been climbing since 2022—the year OpenAI’s ChagGPT came out—and now exceeds the total unemployment rate.
And an analysis from Goldman Sachs revealed that the labor market for recent graduates has weakened to the point where their traditional edge over non-degree peers is at historic lows.
As evidence mounts that AI is shrinking opportunities for entry-level positions, more young Americans are considering vocational schools and going into more hands-on trades.
That’s as student loan debt continues to saddle borrowers for decades, while tuition has doubled at public colleges and surged 75% at private schools since 1995.
Preston Cooper, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, told NBC News that the long-held view that bachelor’s degrees pay off in the job market has eroded.
“I think students are more wary about taking on the risk of a four-year or even a two-year degree,” he said. “They’re now more interested in any pathway that can get them into the labor force more quickly.”
Confidence in higher education has been waning for years. According to a Gallup Poll in September, only 35% said going to college is “very important” — a record low — down from 51% in 2019 and 75% in 2010.
At the same time, the student-debt explosion has crushed the value proposition: a Pew Research survey last year showed only 22% said the cost of a four-year degree is worth it in spite of loans while 47% said it’s only worth if without loans and 29% said the cost is not worth it either way.
NBC’s polling data points to dimmer views compared to a survey by Indeed earlier this year that found that a third of all graduates said their degree was a “waste of money.” And among Gen Zers, 51% expressed remorse, versus 41% of millennials and just 20% of baby boomers.
“Colleges and universities have lost that connection they’ve had with a large swath of the American people based on affordability,” pollster Horwitt told NBC News. “They’re now seen as out of touch and not accessible to many Americans.”