WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three in 10 Americans (31%) think a college education is "very important," four percentage points below last year’s reading, the previous low among the seven times Gallup has asked this question since 1978. As recently as 2013, more than twice as many U.S. adults (70%) said college was very important.
At the same time, the percentage of U.S. adults who say a college education is “not too important” has risen from 6% in 2013 to 29% today, while the percentage saying it is “fairly important” has increased from 23% to 39%.
In the earliest years of Gallup's trend on this question, those considering a college education to be very important increased sharply from 36% in 1978 to 64% by 1985. In the past decade, the perceived importance of college has plummeted, with those saying it is very important now slightly below its 1978 starting point.
This year, Gallup's Aug. 3-24 poll finds that the percentage of U.S. adults viewing college as “not too important” nearly matches those rating it “very important.” The 64-point gap between them in 2013 has shrunk to just two points today.
College's Declining Importance Spans Demographic Groups
The decline in the perceived importance of college is seen across all major demographic groups.
Even groups that have historically placed greater importance on college have registered substantial declines. To provide larger samples for subgroup analysis, the following comparisons combine data from two polls conducted in June 2019 and from two polls conducted in August 2025 and 2026.
In 2019, majorities of women, middle-aged and older adults, Democrats, Black and Hispanic adults, and college graduates said college was very important. Although most of these groups remain more likely than their counterparts to hold this view, each has registered a double-digit decline.
Bottom Line
Americans have increasingly questioned the importance of a college education over the past 13 years. The share saying it is very important has fallen to a record-low 31%, while the percentage saying it is not too important has climbed to about the same level. The long-term decline spans major demographic groups, even as women, Democrats, people of color and college graduates remain relatively more likely than their counterparts to consider college very important.
These findings may be partially explained by Americans’ increasing concerns about the cost of college. In a recent Lumina Foundation-Gallup survey, just 12% of U.S. adults say they consider a four-year college education affordable. Still, Americans' increasingly skeptical view of college contrasts with the experiences of many people who are attending or have completed college. The Lumina Foundation-Gallup State of Higher Education Study recently found that 73% of adults without a degree or credential say earning a two-year or four-year degree is at least as important as it was 20 years ago, as do 69% of college graduates. Further, most parents say they would prefer their child pursue a two- or four-year degree immediately after high school.
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