People say college doesn't matter. They're right and wrong.
It's Been a Minute
NPR
4.6 • 8.8K Ratings
🗓️ 10 October 2025
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
About 19 million people are going to college right now. But one recent poll from Gallup shows that the percentage of Americans who view college as very important is at an all time low, dropping from 75% in 2010 to 35% now. Those who say it's not very important increased from 4% to 24% in the same time period. This is a pretty dramatic change that goes beyond ballooning costs.
Brittany chats with Elissa Nadworny, an education correspondent for NPR, and Kathryn Palmer, reporter for Inside Higher Ed, to get into what’s behind this changing perception – what politics has to do with it – and whether college is still worth it.
(0:00) Is going to college still beneficial?
(2:04) What's behind people thinking a college degree isn't necessary?
(7:54) Why colleges should be responsible for their students's success
(10:23) Why Republicans benefit from college but still discredit it
(16:39) 'Wait WHAT?!': Trivia about the poppiest moments from last week
(21:22) Responding to your comments :)
Follow Brittany Luse on Instagram: @bmluse
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Transcript
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| 0:19.1 | Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:25.0 | In your reporting, do you think college is viewed as just as important as it used to be? |
| 0:31.6 | Catherine, you want to go first? |
| 0:32.7 | No. |
| 0:33.4 | I don't. |
| 0:34.9 | You don't want to go first or you think it's not viewed as important? |
| 0:39.0 | Oh, yeah. |
| 0:39.5 | No. |
| 0:39.8 | I do not think that it is perceived to be as important as it once was. |
| 0:46.4 | Yeah, I think people are... |
| 0:47.9 | They're certainly changing in how they think about college. |
| 0:50.8 | And yet, a lot of people are still going. |
| 0:55.6 | Hello, hello. I'm Brittany Luce, and you're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR, |
| 1:00.8 | a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident. |
| 1:16.9 | We are well into the fall semester for many American college students, but increasingly, |
| 1:20.3 | Americans are wondering, is college still worth it? |
| 1:26.0 | One recent poll from Gallup shows that the percentage of Americans who view college as very important is at an all-time low, |
... |
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