Americans' confidence in higher education has taken a nosedive

Perceived Decline in Value and Purpose of Higher Ed

• Many argue degrees no longer deliver strong economic returns or the promised “broad perspective and independence.”
• Universities are described as credential mills optimized for passing tests and satisfying HR filters rather than genuine learning.
• Several see college as mainly a rent-seeking credential used by employers to gatekeep jobs, often in roles where degrees are unnecessary.

Costs, Debt, and Economics

• High tuition and large student debts dominate concerns; some note students were “tricked” or pushed into costly degrees without financial literacy.
• Explanations for rising costs include restricted supply via accreditation, easy credit, administrative bloat, competition on amenities, and strong global demand.
• Others note that, statistically, a 4‑year degree still yields higher average earnings, though this is contested and seen as confounded by selection effects.

Poll Results and Meaning of “Confidence”

• Commenters dissect the Gallup poll: “great deal/quite a lot” of confidence dropping from ~57% to 36%, and “very little/none” rising from ~10% to 32%.
• Some criticize vague wording (“confidence in higher education to do what?”) and mixing of response categories, calling the metric low-information and highly politicized.

Politics, Ideology, and Trust in Institutions

• A major theme is concern about ideological monocultures, especially in non‑STEM fields, diminished free speech norms, and “woke” or activist programs.
• Others push back, saying public sentiment mostly mirrors partisan media narratives and that broad loss of trust now hits science and experts more generally.
• Academic fraud, replication crises, and COVID-era messaging are cited as eroding trust; debate continues over how widespread fraud actually is.

Field Choice, ROI Variability, and Alternatives

• STEM and licensed professions (engineering, nursing, medicine, law) are widely seen as still paying off; some claim certain humanities or “X studies” have negative ROI.
• Many advocate cheaper paths: in‑state publics, community colleges, trades, apprenticeships, gap years, or self‑directed online learning.
• Trades and manual skills are defended as intellectually demanding and often leading to happier, more stable lives.

Elite Admissions and Overcompetition

• Top schools’ falling acceptance rates are attributed to more applications per student, online applications, and international applicants.
• Several argue chasing top‑10 schools forces unhealthy, hyper‑curated childhoods, while lifetime earnings gaps vs. “normal” schools are modest.

Pedagogy, Student Experience, and Neurodivergence

• Some neurodivergent commenters report school and likely college are misaligned with how they learn (need context, just‑in‑time learning, deeper understanding vs rote).
• Broader critiques target K‑12 and higher ed for overemphasizing memorization, underemphasizing relevance, critical thinking, and multiple teaching styles.