Brookings Brown Center Chalkboard
The Case for College: Promising Solutions to Reverse College Enrollment Declines
June 05, 2023
Is college worth it? The public is increasingly skeptical. A
Wall Street Journal/NORC poll this year found 56% of adults said a four-year college was “not worth the cost,” up from 40% in 2013. This perception is perhaps unsurprising given rising media and
political attention to the negative
consequences of student loan debt. The labor force is also relatively strong, even for workers
with no college experience, making it costlier to pause or defer employment. Political discourse around college (and
education broadly) has also become more partisan, with Republicans becoming
increasingly skeptical around the value of college. However, on average, college completion still pays off.