With all the headlines we’ve been seeing lately about the financial burden of college, and questions around admission practices, you may be inclined to think that people no longer view college as being worth it. But I’ve got an alternate headline for you: “Is College for Everyone? A Majority Say YES.” That’s the finding in a new, nationwide survey by BestColleges.com.
The survey asked the question of people from age 16 to 65, who are currently pursuing college or planning to pursue college, and they found that the majority (56%) believe that college is for everyone, regardless of their race, class, gender, or sexual orientation. Only 22% of people surveyed disagreed with that statement. Those are some impressive numbers!
Now, that’s not to say that students view there being no barriers to college admissions. A survey by that same organization found that ⅓ of people are concerned that fees for applications and entrance exam fees will impact their ability to be accepted to college. But these new numbers are really incredible because they show that no matter how you slice the data, a majority of people in each demographic still view college as being for everyone.
A majority of white students say college is for everyone; a majority of black, indigenous, and people of color students say college is for everyone; and a majority of LGBTQ+ students say college is for everyone. Yes, GenZ is slightly more skeptical of college than older generations, but even a majority of Gen Z respondents said that college is for everyone, regardless of what a person wants to accomplish in life. This is good news! More people attending college is good for society, no matter how you look at it. So don’t listen to the doomsayers out there, the data is clear, and the majority agree: college is for everyone!
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