College students and graduates have more faith than the public in higher education’s ability to overcome rising costs, workforce misalignment and political polarization, according to a new study.
Gallup and the nonprofit Lumina Foundation reported this week that the share of surveyed adults expressing “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in universities dropped from 57% in 2015 to 42% in 2025.
Among those expressing little or no confidence last year, 38% cited the politicization of classes, 32% flagged a failure to teach relevant job skills and 24% noted rising costs.
Current students expressed sunnier views. Roughly 9 in 10 surveyed late last year praised the relevance of classes for their future careers, and just 2% reported feeling politically unwelcome.
Roughly 9 in 10 of all undergraduates surveyed said their degrees were worth the cost.
Most alumni also expressed positive views in surveys, although the study noted that 1 in 5 college graduates “does not find a good job within a year of graduation.”
Courtney Brown, Lumina’s vice president of impact and planning, said the findings call on universities to address return-on-investment concerns.
“Publish employment data, highlight skill alignment, and show real career trajectories,” Ms. Brown said in an email. “Second, confront pricing and transparency head-on. Students can believe in the value and still feel the cost is unfair.”
Last year, 57% of surveyed undergraduates agreed with the statement that “four-year universities do not charge fair prices.”
College closures and mergers have accelerated in recent years, driven by a surge in high school graduates questioning the value of pricey bachelor’s degrees.
Admissions offices have also braced for a 15% drop in college applicants this spring, driven by a years-long decline in U.S. births since 2008.
Last month, the Education Department finalized a rule requiring college degree programs to show their alumni earn more than the average high school graduate to continue receiving federal aid.
“President Trump is committed to holding elite universities accountable, which is why he’s taking long-overdue action to restore excellence to higher education, encourage a vibrant marketplace of ideas on campus, and maintain America’s advantage for generations to come,” White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said in an email.
Interviewed by The Washington Times, several higher education insiders said the study highlights a growing messaging problem for colleges.
“The problem isn’t that college has stopped paying, but that many people no longer believe that it does,” said Harry Patrinos, a University of Arkansas higher education economist. “A major reason is the steady drumbeat of news about rising tuition and student loan debt.”
Education advocates highlighted years of research showing that each additional year of schooling increases earnings.
“We know based on numerous data that earning a degree or high-quality credential is still the best pathway to economic mobility and job opportunities,” said Jessica Duren, spokeswoman for the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, which represents state agencies overseeing public colleges.
Others said the findings support the ongoing “right-sizing” of higher education in an increasingly tight job market.
According to Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, nearly a third of annual job openings through 2031 will require a credential but no degree.
“Colleges need clearer outcomes, less overhead, and faster alignment to workforce realities,” said Linda Orr, a Cleveland-based consultant and former university professor.
Peter Wood, president of the conservative National Association of Scholars, said students and graduates likely overvalue college because of their personal investment in it.
“The value the students put on their college education is typically much higher than the value that the world at large sees,” said Mr. Wood, a former associate provost at Boston University. “The marketplace is one reality check. Another is the assessment of the graduates that disinterested observers make.”
Obsolete degrees
Most higher education analysts acknowledged concerns about rising costs and a growing mismatch between degrees and job requirements.
They cited the struggles of universities to keep up with artificial intelligence and a surge in employers listing “2-3 years experience, no degree required” on job postings.
“Employers increasingly evaluate digital presence, communication clarity, adaptability, and AI fluency,” said Vanessa Errecarte, a graduate management professor at the University of California, Davis. “A degree alone is no longer enough.”
Dick Startz, an education economist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, admitted that college costs are “a lot higher” than they were 25 to 50 years ago.
But the experts disagreed on the sources of political polarization, with some blaming Republicans for exaggerating liberal bias on campuses.
“The most obvious cause of the decline in public confidence in higher education is that the Republican Party has made it into Public Enemy Number One,” said Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor in the history of education at the University of Pennsylvania.
Others noted surveys showing a rise in campus censorship, especially against conservatives.
“These results do not undermine regular findings in other surveys that self-censorship and intolerance, such as willingness to shout down speakers, are prevalent on college campuses,” said Steven McGuire, a fellow at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a liberal arts advocacy group.
Nora Demleitner, the immediate past president of St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, said higher education’s biggest problems remain apolitical.
“There is still a way to go in helping education be career-relevant and assisting students in understanding the connection between what they are learning and expected job skills,” Ms. Demleitner said.
Right-sizing courses
Efforts to “right-size” higher education in recent years have included expansion in apprenticeship programs, trade school certificates and community colleges offering bachelor’s degrees.
Technology, medical care and professional services have emerged as areas of growing need as the workforce ages and birth rates decline. Yet many schools still charge premium rates for theoretical humanities programs that lack clear connections to such jobs.
“Health care and related [safety nets] for an aging population [are] a key growth space to support the baby boomers,” said Patricia Salkin, chief academic officer at Touro University in New York.
John Morganelli, a former Cornell University admissions director, said it’s time to replace theory with practical coursework that does not make education costs feel “unmoored from reality.”
“Colleges should stop arguing in abstractions and instead prove value with transparent pricing, program-level outcomes, and tighter alignment between what they offer and what students actually use,” said Mr. Morganelli, now head of college admissions at Ivy Tutors Network.
It remains unclear whether most campuses can rewrite the public narrative.
“As a sector, [higher education] does not have the financial wherewithal to compete with well-funded and politically motivated organizations working to discredit it,” said Tim Cain, a University of Georgia higher education professor.
Meanwhile, Jon Carson, co-founder of the College Guidance Network, said families have increasingly considered other options since he attended college 30 years ago.
“The inflation-adjusted starting salary has stayed the same,” Mr. Carson said of the past three decades. “The tuition has gone up 10 times.”
