华盛顿特区——三分之一的美国人（31%）认为大学教育“非常重要”，这一比例比去年下降了4个百分点，也是盖洛普自1978年以来七次调查该问题以来的最低水平。早在2013年，仍有超过一半的美国人（70%）认为大学教育非常重要。
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three in 10 Americans (31%) think a college education is "very important," four percentage points below last year’s reading, the previous low among the seven times Gallup has asked this question since 1978. As recently as 2013, more than twice as many U.S. adults (70%) said college was very important.
与此同时，认为大学教育“不太重要”的美国成年人比例从2013年的6%上升到了现在的29%；而认为大学教育“相当重要”的比例则从23%增加到了39%。
At the same time, the percentage of U.S. adults who say a college education is “not too important” has risen from 6% in 2013 to 29% today, while the percentage saying it is “fairly important” has increased from 23% to 39%.
在盖洛普开始调查这一问题的早期阶段，认为大学教育非常重要的受访者比例从1978年的36%急剧上升到了1985年的64%。但在过去十年中，人们对大学教育的重视程度大幅下降，目前认为大学教育非常重要的受访者比例略低于1978年的水平。
In the earliest years of Gallup's trend on this question, those considering a college education to be very important increased sharply from 36% in 1978 to 64% by 1985. In the past decade, the perceived importance of college has plummeted, with those saying it is very important now slightly below its 1978 starting point.
根据盖洛普8月3日至24日进行的调查，认为大学教育“不太重要”的美国成年人比例与认为大学教育“非常重要”的比例几乎持平。2013年时两者之间的差距为64个百分点，如今已缩小至仅2个百分点。
This year, Gallup's Aug. 3-24 poll finds that the percentage of U.S. adults viewing college as “not too important” nearly matches those rating it “very important.”The 64-point gap between them in 2013 has shrunk to just two points today.
大学教育重要性的下降现象普遍存在于所有主要人口群体中。即使是那些历来更重视大学教育的群体，其看法也出现了显著变化。为了获得更详细的子群体分析数据，以下比较结果结合了2019年6月进行的两项调查以及2025年和2026年8月进行的两项调查的数据：2019年时，大多数女性、中老年人、民主党人、黑人和西班牙裔美国人以及大学毕业生都认为大学教育非常重要。尽管这些群体中仍有一部分人持这种观点，但他们的比例都出现了两位数的下降。
College's Declining Importance Spans Demographic Groups The decline in the perceived importance of college is seen across all major demographic groups. Even groups that have historically placed greater importance on college haveed substantial declines. To provide larger samples for subgroup analysis, the following comparisons combine data from two polls conducted in June 2019 and from two polls conducted in August 2025 and 2026. In 2019, majorities of women, middle-aged and older adults, Democrats, Black and Hispanic adults, and college graduates said college was very important. Although most of these groups remain more likely than their counterparts to hold this view, each hased a double-digit decline.
核心结论 过去13年来，美国人对大学教育重要性的质疑日益加深。认为其非常重要的人所占比例降至创纪录的31%，而认为其不太重要的比例则攀升至几乎相同的水平。这种长期的下降趋势涵盖了各大主要人口群体，尽管女性、民主党人、有色人种以及大学毕业生相对而言仍然比其对照群体更有可能认为大学非常重要。
Bottom Line Americans have increasingly questioned the importance of a college education over the past 13 years. The share saying it is very important has fallen to a record-low 31%, while the percentage saying it is not too important has climbed to about the same level. The long-term decline spans major demographic groups, even as women, Democrats, people of color and college graduates remain relatively more likely than their counterparts to consider college very important.
这些调查结果部分可以从美国人对大学学费日益增长的担忧中得到解释。在鲁米纳基金会与盖洛普（Lumina Foundation-Gallup）最近的一项调查中，只有12%的美国成年人认为四年制大学教育负担得起。尽管如此，美国人对大学日益怀疑的观点，与许多正在上大学或已经完成大学学业的人的亲身经历形成了鲜明对比。
These findings may be partially explained by Americans’ increasing concerns about the cost of college. In a recent Lumina Foundation-Gallup survey, just 12% of U.S. adults say they consider a four-year college education affordable. Still, Americans' increasingly skeptical view of college contrasts with the experiences of many people who are attending or have completed college.
鲁米纳基金会与盖洛普的高等教育现状研究最近发现，73%没有学位或证书的成年人认为获得两年制或四年制学位至少和20年前一样重要，大学毕业生的这一比例也达到69%。此外，大多数父母表示，他们更希望自己的孩子在高中毕业后立即攻读两年制或四年制学位。
The Lumina Foundation-Gallup State of Higher Education Study recently found that 73% of adults without a degree or credential say earning a two-year or four-year degree is at least as important as it was 20 years ago, as do 69% of college graduates. Further, most parents say they would prefer their child pursue a two- or four-year degree immediately after high school.
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