US Confidence in Higher Education Institutions Continues Long Decline

In absolute numbers, college is still 100% a good deal, provided you have some kind of scholarship or go to an in-state institution. The problem is that some of these places (and I hate to be that guy), especially small elite liberal arts colleges, seem to exist these days to basically drown young people in debt while they get into a job they could have had with the same English degree from the dependable community college + state school combo. We really need to look at the morality of allowing young adults access to an essentially unrestricted credit line.

I’ve been saying that college is doomed, for a while. I say this as a man with 2 graduate degrees so I am obviously not anti education.<p>Let’s think first principles. A hundred or even 50 years ago, going to college was a real signifier. You were someone who invested in scholarship, survived the rigor, etc. In the absence of other signifiers, that meant something about you. And obviously also you learned something.<p>Today “everyone” goes to college but it’s also trivial to graduate college with no useful skills or mind expansion because it has become more accessible and the bar is lower. So your degree no longer signifies much about you. It’s kinda sad to see college educated adults working in Starbucks but yeah it’s trivial to be half a million dollars in debt and not come out with much.<p>So the signifier value is gone. Meanwhile your opportunities to learn and prove yourself outside of a college degree are more present than ever. Online education options, easy testing, online portfolios etc being some examples of that.<p>So college gives you less, charges you a lot, and competition is rising. That’s not a tenable situation.<p>And the pill about decreased confidence resonates. In the prior generation maybe you can make some argument about college educated people being smarter (and worth listening to) in contrast to others. But now, it’s kinda obvious that electricians, plumbers etc are pulling in 300k a year are smarter and wiser than a liberal arts grad pulling 45k at Starbucks and yeah it’s becoming hard to justify giving more weight to the later in anything.<p>I find this a bit sad - I got a lot out of my education and if that was available to my son and daughter in 17 years that would be great but I suspect it will be so watered down if it exists at all that it would be a hard to justify option.

This feels like a feedback loop where political parties defund public colleges, it becomes worse, they say &quot;look how bad it is&quot; to justify more cuts. It becomes worse...<p>EDIT. I do think there is also a phenomenon that over time corruption (administration) seeps into organizations. Wish we could tackle that directly instead of defunding which may be short sighted.

My advice to all high school graduates is that you should not go to college if you don&#x27;t already know exactly what you want to major on, and have at least some idea of what career path you plan to pursue.

Hard to think of another product where six-figure customers are treated so poorly and leave with so little value.

One thing people always seem to overlook is that college is really, really, really super fun. I&#x27;m not being facetious! It&#x27;s uniquely fun and interesting opportunity that was easily worth the ~$100&#x2F;mo I&#x27;ll be paying for the rest of my life.<p>5 stars, would be educated again.

Most people I know treat a 4 year degree as some form of blue collar work placement program. There is no consideration for education, but instead just minimum required criteria to qualify for a job exactly matching the educational major. No wonder so many people are disappointed and that they lack passion and competence for their work.<p>This is why I tell people if they really want to learn to program learn on their own. Get a degree in the humanities (English, Art History, Literature, History) to learn composition and more formally correct communication. If they really want to learn computer science theory do it as a masters. I get the feeling most people don&#x27;t really want to learn to program as instead they want to jump straight into higher paid employment.

Well earned, turning clueless 18 year olds into indentured servants without actual vocational skills does that.

Before everyone starts hyperventilating, based on the data Pews provided, the biggest reason for this drop was because trust in higher education from individuals with no college education dropped from 54% in 2015 to 29% in 2023, and primarily Republicans from 59% in 2015 to 19% in 2023.<p>It looks like a feedback loop caused by culture wars and anti-elitism.

In addition to the reasons others have mentioned (high tuition costs and political and social indoctrination) a separate reason is universities are failing at providing useful, practical skill sets. A course on how to use a spreadsheet and other business software has much value, especially to those from disadvantaged backgrounds. A basic statistics course that includes, say, Darrel Huff’s “How to Lie with Statistics” has value to both the individual and society.<p>It would interesting to see if the reputation of community colleges have held up, as they have a bigger focus on offering practical courses and at a lower price point.

A strong case can be made, i think, for people who are struggling with the cost of education, to consider trades, now more than ever. especially in electrical. Trades people are aging pretty significantly as a group, and there is going to be a surge in electrical that will need lots of people. This is true in general, but especially electrical. I went to college when it was cheap and so there really wasn&#x27;t much of a concern. If i were a young person now, i doubt i could afford it, and trades would likely be a big win for me. Many a day, even now, i wake up and wish i had taken that path.

The education system is a system of indoctrination of the young. Always has been.

<i>Previous Gallup polling found that Democrats expressed concern about the costs, while Republicans registered concern about politics in higher education.</i><p>I think both parties are right. The cost of a university education has skyrocketed, which I believe is due to bloated administration. However, what has also occurred is a campaign of political and social indoctrination, and censorship of contrarian views.<p>I went to university 20 years ago, and it was common for people to challenge one another, regardless of their views, and not get punished for it. You can&#x27;t seem to do that anymore, at least safely and without punishment. If you can&#x27;t challenge your professors, can&#x27;t challenge one another, are you learning or just being indoctrinated?