Nearly half of Americans say having a college degree is less important now than it was 20 years ago

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In 2011, 86% of college graduates said their degree had been a good investment; in 2013, 70% of U.S. adults said a college education was "very important," according to Pew Research Center and Gallup surveys. Today, 29% of Americans say that college isn't worth the cost — and roughly half (49%) say having a four-year college degree is less important for landing a high-paying job today than it was 20 years ago, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center. The escalating cost of college and ballooning student debt have influenced the shift in attitudes about higher education, the report, which surveyed more than 5,000 U.S. adults, found. Over the past 20 years, college tuition has outpaced inflation, leaving students with substantial debt. The average cost of tuition and fees at private colleges has soared by 144%, while public in-state tuition and fees have increased by 171% for out-of-state students and 211% for in-state students, according to the U.S. News & World Report. Outstanding education debt in the U.S. totals about $1.6 trillion, and burdens Americans more than credit card or auto debt. This surge in costs has led more people to question whether the return on investment is worth the financial strain. Only 22% of U.S. adults say the cost of getting a four-year degree today is worth it even if someone has to take out loans, Pew found. College graduates on average earn more than those without a four-year degree — but this so-called college wage premium is shrinking. A recent report from the San Francisco Federal Reserve found that the college wage gap peaked in the mid-2010s but declined by four percentage points in 2022. Now, bachelor's degree holders earn about 75% more over their career than those without. Economists attribute the decline to more rapid wage gains for high school graduates. Between 2020 and 2024, young high school graduates experienced 9.4% real (inflation-adjusted) wage growth whereas college graduates saw a mere 2.2% increase in their earnings, the Economic Policy Institute reports. To be clear, a wage gap still exists between American workers with degrees and those who forgo college. The inflation-adjusted median annual earnings among young men (ages 25-34) with a four-year degree was $77,000 in 2023, whereas those who only have high school diplomas earned $45,000, Pew found. Young women who graduated college earned $65,000, while their degreeless counterparts earned about $36,000. After decades of falling wages, young U.S. workers without a bachelor's degree have seen their earnings increase over the past 10 years. In 2014, men in this group were earning $39,300, while women were earning $30,900. "Job opportunities and wages have improved for less-educated young adults in the U.S.," Richard Fry, a senior researcher at Pew who co-authored the survey, tells CNBC Make It. "This is, in part, because they have had more bargaining power in the tight labor markets of the last 10 years, when employers had trouble hiring for both high-skill and low-skill positions."