Though confidence about the value of pursuing a two- or four-year college degree is higher among high schoolers than graduates who either dropped out or chose not to attend in the first place, neither demographic view such pursuits as the most valuable, according to a recent report from Edge Research, HCM Strategists, and D2 Strategies.
Adam Burns
Through focus groups and a national survey, Continuing to Explore the Exodus from Higher Education – prepared for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – serves as an update about how sentiments on college have evolved for “non-enrolled” people, 18-to-30-year-old high school graduates who didn’t go to or left college, since 2022. Researchers asked high school juniors and seniors about their thoughts on the value of higher education as well.
Both non-enrolled respondents and high school juniors and seniors cited similar financial benefits as the core reasons to get a college degree, such as career advancement and making money. But the latter group displayed distinctly higher sentiments about degrees – 81% of juniors and seniors compared to 71% of non-enrolled people viewed being able to make money as very or somewhat important as a reason to get a degree.
Not only did the non-enrolled have less confidence about degrees than juniors and seniors, they were also shown to be losing confidence across the board compared to last year.
Notably, both demographics were shown to view on-the-job training and courses towards licenses and certificates as excellent or good value more than two- and four-year college, with high schoolers generally showing more positive sentiment than the non-enrolled.
“[These audiences are saying they] can pursue shorter and cheaper options and can still get a good job,” said Terrell Dunn, chief strategist at D2 Strategies. “Higher ed has to figure out how to explain why what they're offering is better and how students can come out with a better job at the tail end of their experience with a two- and four-year degree.
“When you're competing against ... an oil and gas industry where you can make six figures without a college education, you really have to explain what is better than that to these audiences.”
