Majority of Americans Think College Is Costly, but Valuable

High costs associated with attending college continue to dampen the public’s perception of the value of a degree, among both those who don’t have a credential and those in pursuit of a degree, according to new data from the Lumina Foundation and Gallup.

The survey, published today, found that while 75 percent of U.S. adults between ages 18 and 59 see value in at least one postsecondary degree, fewer than half believe the price attached to a bachelor’s or associate degree is fair.

Seventy percent of respondents indicated bachelor’s degrees are extremely or very valuable, and 55 percent felt similarly about associate degrees, the lowest level recorded since 2021. Only 18 percent of respondents said the tuition cost of four-year colleges is fair; a greater share (40 percent) found two-year degree prices fair.

Despite respondents’ perception of the high costs of postsecondary education, 63 percent of adults who have never pursued a college degree said it would be worth it to invest in a bachelor’s degree, and 72 percent said the same of an associate degree.

The study also found that 40 percent of bachelor’s degree seekers and 60 percent of associate degree seekers rated their own college’s efforts to control costs as good or excellent. A 2024 Student Voice survey from Inside Higher Ed and Generation Lab found that about one-quarter of respondents believe their college offers good value for what it charges for an undergraduate degree.

Regarding the return on their investment, over half of respondents estimated it takes five years or less after graduation for a college degree to pay off, and almost nine in 10 believe the investment in postsecondary education pays off within 10 years.