Sticker Shock: Majority Of Voters Say College Degree No Longer Worth The Price Tag
A central pillar of the traditional American Dream appears to be crumbling. For decades, a four-year university education was viewed as the golden ticket to upward mobility, but a new NBC News poll reveals a stark reversal in public opinion: the majority of voters no longer believe the diploma is worth the price of admission.
According to the data, nearly two-thirds of registered voters—63%—say that a four-year degree is not worth the cost. Respondents cited a lack of specific job skills and the crushing weight of student loans as primary drivers for their skepticism. Only 33% of those surveyed still view college as a worthwhile investment for securing a good job and higher lifetime earnings.
This represents a massive shift in public sentiment in a relatively short period. When CNBC posed the same question in 2013, 53% of Americans believed a degree was worth it. By 2017, the country was virtually split down the middle. Now, the scales have tipped overwhelmingly toward doubt.
“It’s just remarkable to see attitudes on any issue shift this dramatically, and particularly on a central tenet of the American dream,” said Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted the survey alongside Republican pollster Bill McInturff. “Americans used to view a college degree as aspirational… And now that promise is really in doubt.”
The Cost of Admission
While Bureau of Labor Statistics data has long shown that workers with advanced degrees generally earn higher salaries and face lower unemployment rates, the upfront investment required to get there has skyrocketed.
Data from the College Board reveals that since 1995, the inflation-adjusted cost of tuition at public four-year colleges has doubled for in-state students. Private college tuition is up 75% over the same timeframe. For many Americans, this math no longer adds up.
Jacob Kennedy, a 28-year-old service industry worker in Detroit, told NBC News that the financial burden essentially cancels out the benefits.
“The cost overwhelms the value,” Kennedy said. “You go to school with all that student debt—the jobs you get out of college don’t pay that debt, so you have to go find something else that can pay that debt.”
This sentiment is echoed by Jessica Burns, 38, of Iowa. While she managed to keep her costs low by attending community college first, she noted that her husband, who attended a private college, will likely have student loan debt “forever.” She views the degree not as a value-add, but simply as a barrier to entry.
“It’s not valuable because it’s brought a bunch of value-added, it’s valuable because it’s the key to even getting in the door,” Burns said.
A Bipartisan Decline
The souring attitude toward higher education spans every demographic, though the drop is most precipitous among Republicans. In 2013, 55% of Republicans viewed a degree as worth the cost; today, only 22% agree.
Democrats have also lost faith, though less dramatically, dropping from 61% approval in 2013 to 47% this year.
Perhaps most telling is the viewpoint of those who have actually been through the system. Less than half (46%) of voters who currently hold a college degree say it was worth the cost, a sharp decline from 63% twelve years ago.
Looking for Alternatives
Preston Cooper, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, suggests that the “college for all” narrative has suffered because there are simply too many exceptions to the rule. He noted that interest in vocational and technical programs is soaring as students look for a faster return on investment.
“Students are more wary about taking on the risk of a four-year or even a two-year degree,” Cooper said. “They’re now more interested in any pathway that can get them into the labor force more quickly.”
Josiah Garcia, 24, recently moved from an electrician’s apprenticeship to an engineering program, seeing a direct link to earnings in the STEM field. However, he remains skeptical of other majors.
“A lot of my friends who went to school for art or dance didn’t get the job they thought they could get,” Garcia said, suggesting that degrees for “softer skills” should be priced lower than those in technical fields.
As universities grapple with this crisis of confidence, the poll suggests a difficult road ahead for higher education institutions trying to reconnect with the public.
“Colleges and universities have lost that connection they’ve had with a large swath of the American people based on affordability,” Horwitt said. “They’re now seen as out of touch and not accessible to many Americans.”
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