Despite a growing public skepticism about higher education, Americans without degrees or credentials still view postsecondary education as essential for career success.
That’s the top-line finding in an annual report on the state of higher education from Gallup and Lumina Foundation released on Wednesday. Non-degree or credential-holding adults place the highest value on graduate degrees, bachelor’s degrees and industry certifications, with at least seven in 10 saying they are extremely or very valuable, according to the report. While still esteemed, fewer than six in 10 see certificate programs (58%) and associate degrees (55%) as equally valuable.
The findings support a steady uptick in enrollments at community colleges and other higher education institutions following the Covid pandemic. Fifty-seven percent of adults not enrolled in a degree or credential program said they intend to enroll, with 85% of this group saying they are likely to very likely to enroll within the next five years, according to the report.
Participants in the survey included nearly 14,000 adults ages 18 to 59 who don’t have a college and are either currently enrolled, have stopped out or have never enrolled.
Challenging barriers
Interest in pursuing associate and bachelor’s degrees continued to increase in 2024, with 24% of unenrolled adults considering an associate degree and 18% considering a bachelor’s degree, the report said. Still, barriers remain. In particular, financial concerns and program flexibility when considering enrollment, and emotional stress and mental health issues impeding completion.
The findings show that fewer enrolled adults are considering stopping out — down to 32% from 35% in 2023 — but almost a one-third have thought about it, largely due to mental health and cost concerns. Of those who did stop out, one in three cited mental health, emotional stress or cost as reasons. The report added that the main sources of emotional stress were anxiety/depression or mental health concerns (74%), loneliness/isolation (60%), financial matters related to school (59%), amount of coursework (56%) and job stresses (50%).
Breakdown by demographics
The survey also found differences based on gender and race/ethnicity. Women without degrees are less likely than males to consider pursuing an industry certification (8% vs. 22%) or a bachelor’s degree (14% vs. 21%). However, they are similarly likely to say they have considered an associate degree (23% vs. 25%) and certificate programs (21% vs. 22%).
The report noted that unenrolled women are less likely to consider industry certifications regardless of whether they have stopped out or never enrolled. However, men are almost three times as likely as women (29% vs. 11%) to say they have ever enrolled or taken courses in an industry certification program post high school, “which may reflect that many industry certifications are often offered in male-dominated fields such as information technology, manufacturing and construction,” according to the report.
In terms of race, White adults were much less certain about college in their future than other races/ethnicities. Nearly 60% of Black or African American adults and 57% of Hispanic adults said they were likely or very likely to enroll in a degree or credential program in the next five years. compared to 41% of White adults. For Asian adults, it was 55%.
