The Aporia · Record-low number of Americans believe college is ‘very important’: poll

Record-low number of Americans believe college is ‘very important’: poll

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Brown, H. (2026, October 4). Record-low number of Americans believe college is ‘very important’: poll. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/10/04/us-news/record-low-number-of-americans-believe-college-is-very-important-poll/

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Quick Summary

A recent Gallup poll reveals that only 31% of Americans now consider post-high-school education "very important," marking the lowest percentage since Gallup began tracking this metric in 1978. This is a significant decline from 2013 when 70% felt college was essential, though around 39% still view it as “fairly important.” The poll indicates that while negative views are prevalent across all political affiliations, Democrats (40%) were more likely than Republicans (22%) and independents (34%) to see college education as very important.

Written by AI on 2026-10-04, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

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Story summary

A new Gallup poll reveals that only 31% of Americans believe post-high-school education is "very important," marking the lowest percentage since Gallup began asking this question in 1978. This represents a significant drop from 2013, when 70% of Americans felt college was essential. The negative views are consistent across political parties, with Democrats (40%), Republicans (22%), and independents (34%) all less likely to consider college "very important" than in 2019. Despite the decline, around 39% still see college as "fairly important." Gallup conducted its survey by interviewing 1,200 adults from August 3 through August 24, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4%.

Written for “College Importance Doubt” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

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0 of 8 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

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Who wrote this

Haley Brown

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All 29 articles by Haley Brown →

Claims (8 extracted, 0 hedged)

Just three in ten (31%) of Americans said in a new Gallup poll that they believe post-high-school education is “very important.” asserted

education → say → poll

That is the lowest the Gallup pollsters have recorded since they began asking the question in 1978 — and marks a staggering drop from 2013, when seven in ten Americans (70%) said they believed attending university was essential. asserted

attending → record → university

Still, the survey doesn’t show an outright rejection of higher education — around four in 10 people (39%) said they believe attending college is “fairly important.” asserted

attending → show → college

Negative views of tertiary education were seen across the political aisle, with Democrats, Republicans and Independents all less likely to say college was “very important” than they were in 2019. However, Democrats were more likely than Republicans to see college as “very important,” the poll found. asserted

poll → see → college

Around 40% of Democrats thought higher learning was very important, compared with just 22% of Republicans and 34% of independents. asserted

learning → think → independents

Gallup surveyed 1,200 adults in the US by phone from Aug. 3 through Aug. 24 for the poll, which has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 4%. asserted

which → survey → %

Only 12% of adults said a four-year degree is affordable, a separate Lumina Foundation-Gallup survey from June showed. asserted

survey → say → June

But even so, a third Gallupsurvey found that 59% of parents said they want their child to go straight to a two- or four-year college after high school. asserted

child → find → school

Record-low number of Americans believe college is ‘very important’: poll

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Claims (8 extracted, 0 hedged)