WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans have been placing less importance on the value of a college education over the past 15 years, to the point that about a third (35%) now rate it as “very important.” Forty percent think it is “fairly important,” while 24% say it is “not too important.”
When last asked to rate the importance of college in 2019, just over half of U.S. adults, 53%, said it was very important, but that was already lower than the 70% found in 2013 and 75% in 2010. Meanwhile, the percentage viewing college as not too important has more than doubled since 2019 and compares with just 4% in 2010.
The views of parents of children under age 18 in the Aug. 1-20 poll are similar to the national average, with 38% rating college as very important, 40% somewhat important and 21% not too important.
Perceived Importance Down Among All Societal Groups
All major subgroups of Americans express less support for higher education today than they did 12 years ago. The initial decline — between 2013 and 2019 — in the percentage rating college as very important was steeper among 18- to 34-year-olds than among older adults. However, since then, the rates among older adults have plunged, so that now only about a third of all age groups say a college education is very important.
Women, people of color, college graduates and Democrats have traditionally been more likely than their counterparts to value higher education, and that remains the case today. However, even among these pro-college groups, less than half now say college is very important.
Notably, the percentage of Democrats rating college as very important has fallen almost as steeply as that of Republicans since 2013. However, most Democrats who do not view college as very important now describe it as fairly important, while few say it’s not too important (49% and 9% of Democrats, respectively). By contrast, Republicans are equally likely to rate it as fairly important (39%) as not too important (39%). In fact, Republicans are about twice as likely to say college is not too important as to say it is very important (20%).
Similarly, just four in 10 college graduates say college is very important, but few (12%) dismiss it as not too important, while 46% say it’s fairly important. This contrasts with non-college graduates, who are just as likely to say college is not too important (32%) as very important (31%), with the plurality (37%) calling it fairly important.
While the Gallup trend shows a clear change in how Americans view college, recent Gallup polling for the Lumina Foundation adds nuance to the picture. For instance, when asked how valuable they think a bachelor’s or associate degree is, a solid majority of U.S. adults without a college degree rate each as extremely or very valuable. Additionally, another Lumina Foundation-Gallup study found that 59% of parents hope their child attends college right after high school, indicating they see value in a college education. This includes 40% preferring their child to attend a four-year college or university and 19% wanting their child to enroll in a two-year or community college.
Bottom Line
Most Americans still see value in having a college education (rating it at least fairly important), but they are far less likely today than even five years ago to consider it vital. While this is consistent with the decline in confidence in higher education that has occurred over the past decade (albeit with a slight uptick this year), the reasons are likely different.
Confidence in higher education has declined much more among Republicans than Democrats over the past decade, with criticism of it for having left-leaning political agendas leading the reasons higher ed skeptics point to. Specifically, the latest Lumina Foundation-Gallup research finds that 38% of Americans who lack confidence in higher education cite politics, with another 32% saying college doesn’t teach the right things.
By contrast, the dwindling perception that college is very important has occurred equally among both major parties, suggesting a broader explanation is required. While the new survey didn’t explore the reasons directly, the high cost of college, recent attention to the benefits of trade schools, the growth of online learning and microcredentials, and the potential for revolutionary changes in the labor market presented by recent advancements in AI are all possibilities.
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Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works. View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).
