Do adults without degrees see the value of college?

Higher Ed Dive

Laura Spitalniak

March 13, 2024

The perceived value of a college degree is declining among adults without one, while their view of licenses and certificates’ value has gone up, according to new research commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Released Wednesday, the research focuses on 18- to 30-year-olds who never attended a two- or four-year college or who left before earning a degree —  all referred to non-enrollees — to understand their attitudes about higher education. Edge Research and the consulting firm HCM Strategists conducted the study, which also tracked the perceptions of high school students.

Among the 3,130 non-enrollees surveyed in 2023, 57% said a four-year degree is a good or excellent value, down from 60% in 2022. In comparison, 75% said earning a license is a good value, up from 70% the year before. Nearly the same share, 72% called professional certificates a good value, rising from 67% in the last survey.

Convincing non-enrollees of the value of higher education will become increasingly important for colleges. Beginning next year, colleges are expecting a sharp drop in high school graduates as a result of declining birth rates during the Great Recession.

High school juniors and seniors are more likely than non-enrollees to say a college degree is important for getting a better job, earning more money and maintaining job security. But as competition increases over traditional-age students, reaching out to older and nontraditional students will become increasingly important.

The new research suggests that colleges need to prove to potential students that their degrees have more value than quicker and less expensive alternatives.

Students can get a better job with a two- or four-year degree, Terrell Halaska Dunn, consultant to HCM Strategists, said Tuesday during a press call. But colleges need to prove that.

“Higher ed has a lot of work to do to convince these audiences of its value,” Dunn said. “But although they’re skeptical, they are persuadable.”

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