75% of Grads Say a Degree Was Worth It

Public confidence in higher education has been falling for years. Polls of the general public consistently show skepticism about whether college is worth the price. Politicians on both sides use it as a campaign theme. Pundits declare the degree obsolete.

Then there's what the students and graduates themselves say.

The Lumina Foundation partnered with Gallup to ask nearly 10,000 people who actually attended college what they think of the experience and the outcome. The report, titled "The College Reality Check: What Students Experience vs. What America Believes," was published in February 2026.¹ The results don't fully match the public narrative.

The Core Finding

Three-quarters of students and college graduates — 75% — say their degree is or has been worth the cost of attending.¹

Among those pursuing bachelor's degrees specifically, that number rises to 93%. For associate degree students, it's 89%.

75% — of college students and graduates say their degree is or has been worth the cost of attending^{Lumina Foundation & Gallup, 'The College Reality Check,' 2026}

Three-quarters of graduates also say their degree has been "critical" (37%) or "important" (38%) to reaching their career goals.²

The survey was conducted October 2-31, 2025, and included 1,433 associate degree students, 2,368 bachelor's degree students, and nearly 6,000 graduates. Responses were weighted to match national demographics.

What "Worth It" Looks Like in Practice

Eighty percent of people who earned a bachelor's degree within the last decade said they obtained a good job within one year of graduation. Forty-two percent reported that a position was waiting for them before they even finished their degree.²

Among students currently enrolled, 93% said they are confident their coursework is teaching them career-relevant skills. Eighty-eight percent said they believe their degree will help them secure employment after graduation.

These numbers are high. They are also self-reported by people who chose to attend and remain enrolled in college — a group that has already filtered out students who dropped out or transferred out of dissatisfaction. That's worth keeping in mind when interpreting the percentages.

The return on a degree varies significantly by field of study and type of institution. Our college degree ROI by major breakdown shows earnings data by program so you can evaluate a specific path — not just "college" in the abstract.

The Disconnect With Public Perception

The survey's subtitle — "What Students Experience vs. What America Believes" — captures the core finding. Public confidence in higher education has declined sharply. But the people inside the system report something different from what people outside it assume.

Lumina and Gallup identified three main reasons the public is skeptical: concern about campus politicization, a sense that colleges don't focus enough on practical job skills, and the sheer cost of tuition and loan burden.¹

That last concern is shared by the students themselves. Despite saying their degrees are worth it, 57% of current students said four-year universities do not charge fair prices. That number drops to 25% for two-year colleges.

So the typical graduate holds two positions simultaneously: their degree was worth it for them, and the price was too high.

"Worth it" is not a universal verdict. Students who dropped out before completing their degree — and who carry debt without a credential — are not represented in this survey. Dropout rates and debt without a degree are a real part of the higher education picture. Our college dropout rate statistics page has that context.

What This Means for Students Making Decisions Now

If you're trying to decide whether college makes sense for you — or which type of program to pursue — a few things stand out from this data.

The credential still delivers. Across nearly every metric, graduates report that their degree produced real career outcomes. Eight in ten found good work within a year. That is a high conversion rate.

The debt question is separate from the credential question. Saying a degree was worth it doesn't mean the debt load was worth it. Students in the survey acknowledge the pricing problem even while valuing the outcome. If you're evaluating a specific program, look at earnings data, not just degree outcomes.

Field matters more than most rankings. The degree ROI gap between high-return majors and low-return majors at the same school can be larger than the gap between institutions. Our best majors for job security guide covers which fields consistently produce strong employment outcomes.

For the Class of 2026 entering the job market this month, our Class of 2026 salary expectations vs. reality post covers what the data says about actual starting salaries — and where expectations don't match the market. The NACE Class of 2026 hiring outlook has employer hiring projections for this graduation cycle.

If the cost of college is what's giving you pause, our average student loan debt breakdown shows typical debt levels by degree type and institution — which is a more useful frame than sticker price alone.

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The Gallup-Lumina data doesn't settle the debate about whether college is worth it. But it does mean one thing: the people who actually went to college, and finished, mostly think it was the right call. The gap between that reality and what the public believes is the more interesting story.

Footnotes

1. Lumina Foundation & Gallup. (2026, February). The college reality check: What students experience vs. what America believes. Lumina Foundation. https://www.luminafoundation.org/resource/the-college-reality-check/ ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. Gallup. (2026). College students, grads see strong career value in degree. Gallup. https://news.gallup.com/poll/702284/college-students-grads-strong-career-value-degree.aspx ↩ ↩²