I wonder how much of this is down to AI? Maybe not much yet. Concerns about it and employment have only started going mainstream in the 2020s. That suggests there is more decline ahead for people's regard for the worth of college education.
It's striking how much opinions differ according to politics. 39% of Republicans rate college as "Not too important", versus 9% of Democrats who feel the same way. The article wonders if the perceived left-wing bias of colleges is to blame. But if right-wing people desert colleges, won't that just make them more left-wing? The student body certainly will be, and that's where the future staff members come from.
Perceived Importance of College Hits New Low: The percentage of Americans saying college is "very important" has fallen to 35%
Yup. I'd definitely think it's more to do with utility 10 years ago than AI now. That's enough time to see that some people who went to college aren't using their degrees and some people who didn't are doing just fine, and that for a lot of people then biggest difference is debt. Current AI tools haven't had enough time influencing the market to make it clear if they're actually going to change things significantly or not.
I think the political difference is between which groups value education in the abstract more, and see college as a way to get that, despite a possible lack of utility. College can be a way to learn critical thinking and such. In an ideal world, we'd also be more okay giving anyone who wanted it knowledge for knowledges sake without making it so focused on utility.
I'd love if I could pop over to the nearby university and sign up to take an intro course on something that I know I will never practically use.