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Americans question value of four-year degrees
New poll shows voters increasingly doubt the return on college education.
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Pranavi Sharma - Sun, 30, Nov 2025
- 00:00 EST
- 7
Representative image / AI generated
Americans no longer see a four-year college degree as worth the cost, according to new polling from NBC News that shows a steep drop in confidence over the last decade. The survey, released in an official report, found that almost two-thirds of registered voters now believe the price of a bachelor’s degree outweighs its benefits.
The NBC report said only 33 percent of voters view a degree as “worth the cost because people have a better chance to get a good job and earn more money over their lifetime.” Sixty-three percent agreed instead that it is “not worth the cost because people often graduate without specific job skills and with a large amount of debt to pay off.”
The report noted that the shift is significant. In 2013, 53 percent of respondents told CNBC that a degree was worth it, while 40 percent disagreed. By 2017, NBC polling showed the public nearly split. The new results point to a clear break with past attitudes.
Pollster Jeff Horwitt, whose firm conducted the survey for NBC alongside Republican pollster Bill McInturff, said in the report that the scale of the change stands out. “It’s just remarkable to see attitudes on any issue shift this dramatically,” he told NBC. He said Americans once saw a degree as a route to a better life, but “now that promise is really in doubt.” He added in a separate comment that “everybody has moved,” not only those without degrees.
Americans have veered sharply against the value proposition of college. / NBCNBC’s reporting included interviews with respondents who pointed to rising tuition as the central reason for the shift. Jacob Kennedy, a 28-year-old in Detroit with a two-year degree, said he values education but believes high debt undermines the usefulness of a bachelor’s degree. “The cost overwhelms the value,” he told NBC. He described seeing peers abandon higher-paying jobs for service work because their salaries could not cover student loan payments.
Data cited in the NBC report shows steep long-term tuition increases. The College Board found that average inflation-adjusted tuition at public four-year colleges for in-state students has doubled since 1995. Prices at private four-year schools are up 75 percent over the same period.
The new poll highlights major partisan shifts as well. NBC said 55 percent of Republicans viewed degrees as worth the cost in 2013. Only 22 percent say so now. Democrats also moved, though less sharply, falling from 61 percent to 47 percent. Less than half of voters with college degrees now see the investment as worthwhile.
The report also quoted Preston Cooper of the American Enterprise Institute, who said growing exceptions to the idea that a degree always pays off have fueled skepticism. He pointed to dropouts, low-earning majors, and high prices.
The survey found rising interest in vocational and technical paths. One respondent, Josiah Garcia of Virginia, told NBC he returned to school for engineering because of clear earnings potential, but said his friends with art and dance degrees did not see similar returns.
Other respondents emphasized the weight of debt. Jessica Burns of Iowa, who holds a bachelor’s degree, said the value “depends on the cost.” She contrasted her relatively affordable public education with her husband’s private college tuition, adding that “we are going to have student loan debt for him forever.”
The report also said the decline in perceived value parallels a drop in public confidence in higher education, as measured by Gallup polling over the last decade.
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