What does “college is important” actually mean now?

Zach DavidsonOct 2, 2026

Gallup reports that 31% of Americans consider college “very important,” down from 70% in 2013, but it doesn’t tell us whether a degree pays off for a particular person or field. Jeffrey Tucker’s take is that college can amount to a long, subsidized detour for people who don’t face demanding post-college credentialing, and while I think that raises a useful question, it risks treating very different paths as one thing: some careers require a degree and further training while for others, the cost and time may be hard to justify. How should we judge college’s value? By career requirements? Earnings? Learning? Something else? I'm excited about HAA as an alternative: https://www.theacademysf.com/