As costs rise and national student loan debt approaches $1.8 trillion, many families and students wonder whether college is still a beneficial investment — or the best one.
Americans are divided about how they feel about higher education. According to a 2024 Gallup poll, 36% of respondents expressed a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in higher education, while 32% indicated little or no confidence and that same percentage stated some confidence. When Gallup first measured higher education confidence levels in 2015, 57% of respondents said they were confident while 10% expressed little or no confidence.
“It’s an important thing for us as colleges and universities to make the case to people that years of their life and a considerable amount of effort, and for many people money, is going to pay off,” says Nick Anderson, vice president for higher education partnerships and improvement at the American Council on Education. “We are under no illusion that we can just dictate this to people. We have to earn it and earn their trust. … And where we fall short, we must own up to that. But we think that on the whole, families and Americans at large believe that college and universities play an important role in American life.”
The average cost of tuition and fees for in-state students at a public college was $11,011 for the 2024-2025 year, while out-of-state tuition and fees in the same year was $24,513, according to a U.S. News survey. By comparison, private schools cost an average of $43,505 the same year.
Accounting for inflation, tuition and fees increased by 2.5% at private colleges ranked by U.S. News. But for public ranked schools, they decreased: about 0.6% for in-state students and about 0.5% for out-of-state students.
That’s just the sticker price, however. Many undergraduate students pay significantly less after federal financial aid and institutional grants and scholarships are factored in.
Families should weigh the cost against the personal benefits, experiences and opportunities college can provide, including the improved future salary associated with having a degree, experts say.
[See: How Average Student Loan Debt Has Changed in 10 Years.]
What Is the Value of a College Education?
For most students, experts say, it remains financially worthwhile to go to college, despite rising tuition. College graduates learn transferable workforce skills and tend to have higher earnings and lower rates of unemployment over their lifetime compared to those with just a high school diploma or with some college and no degree.
“We realize that not everybody goes to college and that’s OK,” Anderson says. “We in higher education are there for people at any point in their lives. So if you choose not to go to college at age 18, that’s fine. That’s your choice. We’ll be there for you if you change your mind at age 19; if you change your mind at age 24; if you change your mind at age 30; and on and on.”
The “point of higher education generally is to be there as a window of access and opportunity for people to improve their lives and help meet their goals,” he adds. “It is not about just the individual benefit. It is about the benefits of the entire society from us providing this opportunity for people.”
Higher Earnings
The median weekly earnings in 2023 for a U.S. worker with a bachelor’s degree is $1,493, compared with $899 for those with only a high school diploma, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Some research indicates that lifetime earnings typically increase as a worker gets more education beyond high school. However, there are some disparities by race and gender, and earnings may also vary by occupation and location.
One way to weigh the costs of going to college against the financial benefits after graduation is to research median salaries for a student’s expected college major through tools such as the College Scorecard.
Graduates who majored in mechanical engineering, for instance, make a median mid-career salary of $111,000, nearly double the median mid-career salary of a social services major — $56,000, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s interactive chart, updated in February 2024.
There could be “situations where people attend programs that are very expensive that may not lead to high earnings,” says Nichole Torpey-Saboe, vice president of research at the Strada Education Foundation. “So people need to be aware of that and have transparency around those outcomes.”
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Choosing a degree “based purely on financial return instead of one that aligns better with your interests and aptitudes is hardly a recipe for success,” Brett Schraeder, vice president of financial aid optimization at EAB, an education firm that provides research, technology and advisory services, wrote in an email.
For those who don’t finish their degree, it can also be difficult to pay off student loan debt, Torpey-Saboe says.
Employment Opportunities
Unemployment rates were lower in 2023 among bachelor’s degree holders, 2.2%, than those with just a high school diploma, 3.9%, according to BLS data.
There are also often fewer employment opportunities for those with only a high school diploma. By 2031, 72% of U.S. jobs will require some type of postsecondary education or training, according to a recent projection by the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Skills and Social Capital
While in college, students build a number of skills that are transferable to the workplace, including how to think critically and communicate effectively, experts say. Four-year schools, in particular, “help build teamwork and leadership capabilities while also exposing young people to a broader range of experiences outside of the classroom,” Schraeder says.
According to a 2024 Cengage employability report, 57% of survey respondents — individuals who received a two- or four-year college degree and/or skills certification — say their program provided them with the skills needed to perform in their first job.
Attending college also builds an individual’s social capital, experts say. College students have access to their school’s alumni network and career fairs to connect with potential employers.
Community Benefits
A college education also benefits communities, experts say.
“Families benefit when somebody goes to college,” says Tamalyn Powell, senior vice president of higher education at BVK and president of the board of directors of Serve Marketing, which launched a national campaign to “combat the negative narrative” about postsecondary education. “Communities benefit when people go to college. Employers benefit because they have a larger pool to pull from in terms of a workforce.”
Even people without degrees themselves benefit from the “innovations and the impact that come out of our colleges and universities across the United States; safer bridges, cures for things, teachers for our children,” she says. “That’s the underlying foundation of why we created this public service initiative. … Mostly the focus is on the economic value that someone gets when they receive a degree. I think we all know that that’s a established fact. But what else beyond that?”
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Alternatives to a Four-Year Degree
Earning a bachelor’s degree may not be the right choice for everyone. Students whose chosen career fields don’t require one, or whose families determine the benefits do not outweigh the cost, might want to explore alternatives.
Community colleges offer vocational training and short-term certificates that can help high school graduates land jobs or earn inexpensive credits to later transfer to a four-year college. Students interested in fields like nursing, welding, cosmetology or medical assistant positions might consider certificate programs to cut costs.
There are also apprenticeships, which combine on-the-job training with classroom instruction.
“As the labor market changes so quickly, employers are looking more at skills-based hiring,” says Alisha Hyslop, chief policy, research and content officer at the Association for Career and Technical Education. “So it’s really important for individuals to think about the job they want and the skills that are needed and pick an education program that’s going to provide them with those skills, regardless of where it’s located or whether it’s a traditional or nontraditional program.”
No matter what type of educational pathway a student chooses, it’s important to evaluate the program’s quality, including accreditation and industry involvement in the program.
“If it’s a field that requires you to sit for a licensing exam, like many health care fields or a number of fields in the skilled trades, you have to have a state license to practice,” Hyslop says. “You want to make sure that the program is accredited to offer the training that leads to that license.”
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Is College Worth the Cost? Factors to Consider originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 02/20/25: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
