Posted on 06/19/2023 8:36:26 AM PDT by george76
More than half of Americans don’t believe a college degree is worth the cost
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56% of all Americans viewed getting a college degree as a bad investment, while only 42% of Americans see a degree as worth it.
The highest skepticism of the group that was surveyed came from young adults in the 18 to 34 age range.
"Women and older Americans are driving the decline in confidence. People over the age of 65 with faith in college declined to 44% from 56% in 2017. Confidence among women fell to 44% from 54%," the poll said.
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The confidence in college degrees has been on a steady decline. In 2013, 53% of Americans were supportive of the degrees while 40% weren’t. In 2017, the support narrowed to only 49% in support and 47% who didn’t.
The Wall Street Journal noted that their poll found that many of the surveyed felt a degree was "not worth the cost because people often graduate without specific job skills and with a large amount of debt to pay off."
Student loan debt has reached $1.7 trillion, and now the graduation rate at four-year colleges is down to 60%.
"Enrollment in U.S. colleges declined by about 15% over the last decade while the growth in alternative credentials, including apprenticeships, increased sharply," the Wall Street Journal reported about their study.
The pandemic and 2008 recession made it hard for college graduates to actively find jobs in their field of study, adding to the skepticism of the degree's usefulness.
Many degrees are worthless but STEM and vocational degrees are still a good investment.
I believe most colleges are just a scam.
‘Bout time the B.S. on a shingle scam ends.
Mine wasn’t a waste of money, but that was a long time ago and things have changed.
I have a bachelor’s and a master’s. I was an associate professor and academic counselor in the Florida University System for a time.
College is a good experience and required for certain professions. I’m glad I went to college but I have degrees in political science and adult education. Most of my business career ended up in the banking industry and owning my own mortgage broker firm. I could have technically accomplished that with a high school diploma.
If I had it to do all over again I would have gone to a two year technical school and taken an IT program and gotten a good paying job right off the bat.
A better way to put it would be that more than half of college students earn degrees that are a waste of money.
My degrees in science served me well and continue to do so.
i wouldn’t say the education was worthless for that would be silly if gained at a worthwhile institution. but i would say the price is too high in most instances and a cost-benefit analysis warranted.
Because back in our day, colleges didn't offer so many worthless degrees.
Most college degrees are a waste of time and money.
How long into the future will it be before college enrollment drops so much the universities will start asking the government aka Tax Payers, to give them $$$ so they don’t have to fire any professors?
more than half of degrees ARE worthless!
so they have a point!
I told my kids I would pay for college if they got a STEM degree or a vocational degree. It’s worked well so far!
Don’t be so harsh.... a masters in gender studies will get you a great job at Starbucks.
unless you are white, then they will fire you!
This is gonna rock the world of those high-falutin’ Ivy League libs in their pathetic bubbles.
The world needs ditchdiggers, too.
bttt
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