A new Gallup poll released Thursday shows that Americans view a college education as less essential today than they did in the past.

Over the last 15 years, the share of adults who consider college “very important” has fallen to 35%. Another 40% say it is “fairly important,” while 24% believe it is “not too important.”

Back in 2019, 53% of U.S. adults said college was very important. That number had already dropped from 70% in 2013 and 75% in 2010. Meanwhile, the percentage of those who think college isn’t very important has more than doubled since 2019, compared to just 4% in 2010.

Every major demographic group is less likely today to see higher education as highly important than they were 12 years ago.

The initial drop was steepest among younger adults ages 18 to 34, according to Gal

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