The percentage of Americans who think a college education is "very important" has dropped to a new low, according to a new survey released Thursday from Gallup.
Those who view a college education as "very important" has been more than cut in half in the past 15 years with 75% in 2010 dropping to 35% in 2025. In just six years, Americans have seen their view of college as being "very important" drop nearly 20 percentage points from 53% in 2019 to only 35% in 2025. In the latest poll, 40% said a college education was "fairly important" while 24% said that it's "not too important."
The political nature of many colleges and their perceived bias played a large role in the survey's results. "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," Gallup's Lydia Saad wrote in her analysis.
Gender differences continue to play a role, yet both sexes showed a steep decline. In 2013, 65% of men saw college as "very important" dropping to 29% in 2025, and for women, 75% viewed college as "very important" in 2013 with the number dropping to 41% in 2025.
The Gallup poll was conducted between Aug. 1-20 among 1,094 Americans with a +/- margin of error of 4 percentage points.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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