Most Americans say a college education is not worth the cost. In fact, 57% say that college students receive only a fair (42%) or poor (15%) return for the money they and their families spend on their education. Just 5% of the public says college students receive excellent value for their money, and 35% say colleges provide good value. There is little difference in the evaluation of a college education between adults who did and did not attend college. College presidents, however, are far more generous in their evaluation of higher education. Fully three-fourths of college presidents say students receive an excellent (17%) or good (59%) value for the money they spend on an education. Still, despite the lack of enthusiasm for higher education among the public, most adults who graduated from college value their degree to some extent. Among college graduates, fully 86% say that college has been a good investment for them personally; just 6% say it has not. Read More

Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.