For much of the past century, America believed that college was essential to upward mobility. A four-year degree has long been a symbol of the American dream, seen as a way to ensure that millions of students could be better off than their parents and grandparents. Today, however, that faith is plummeting.
A Gallup poll earlier this year found that Americans’ confidence in higher education has fallen to a new low of 36 percent, down from 57 percent in 2015. Although a record share of Americans had a bachelor’s degree as of 2021, degree skepticism and pandemic-related disruptions led undergraduate enrollment to drop 8 percent from 2019 to 2022.