Is College Worth It? - The Wall Street Journal

Social &

Demographic

Trends

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May 16, 2011

Is College Worth It?

College Presidents, Public Assess

Value, Quality and Mission of Higher Education

Paul Taylor, Director

Kim Parker, Associate Director

Demographer

Richard Fry, Senior Researcher

D¡¯Vera Cohn, Senior Writer

Wendy Wang, Research Associate

Gabriel Velasco, Research Analyst

Daniel Dockterman, Research Assistant

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Pew Social & Demographic Trends

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Preface

Sharply rising college costs, enrollments and student debt loads have touched off a debate

about the role of higher education in the 21st Century.

This Pew Research Center report attempts to inform that debate. It is based on two surveys¡ª

one of the American public; the other of college presidents¡ªthat explore attitudes about the

cost, value, quality, mission and payoff of a college education. The survey of college presidents

was done in association with the Chronicle of Higher Education.

As is the case with all Center reports, our research is not designed to promote any cause,

ideology or policy proposal. Our only goal is to inform the public on important topics that

shape their lives and their society.

Higher education is one such topic. The debate about its value and mission has been triggered

not just by rising costs, but also by hard economic times; by changing demands on the nation¡¯s

workforce; by rising global competition; by growing pressures to reduce education funding;

and by the ambitious goal set by President Obama for the United States to lead the world by

2020 in the share of young adults who have a college degree.

We hope that this wide-ranging analysis of the attitudes and experiences of the general public,

college graduates and college presidents will illuminate the issues at the heart of this debate.

About the Authors

This report was edited and the overview written by Paul Taylor, executive vice president of the

Pew Research Center and director of its Social & Demographic Trends project (SDT). Kim

Parker, associate director of SDT, led the team that drafted the two survey questionnaires and

designed the sampling strategy; she also wrote Chapter 3. Senior researcher Richard Fry

researched and wrote Chapters 2 and 5. Senior writer D¡¯Vera Cohn wrote Chapter 4. Research

Associate Wendy Wang assisted on all aspects of the research project, from questionnaire

design and analysis to report writing and formatting. Research assistant Daniel Dockterman

helped with the preparation of charts. The report was number-checked by Pew Research

Center staff members Dockterman, Gabriel Velasco and Danielle Gewurz. Other colleagues

offered research, editorial, and/or methodological guidance, including Scott Keeter, Leah

Christian, Rakesh Kochhar, Mark Lopez, and Gretchen Livingston. The report was copy-edited



by Marcia Kramer. The Center thanks editors at the Chronicle of Higher Education, including

Jeffrey Selingo, Scott Smallwood and Jeffrey Brainard, for their assistance.



May 16, 2011 EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE AT 8 P.M. EDT ON SUNDAY, MAY 15

Table of Contents

PAGE

Executive Summary

1

Chapter 1: Overview

5

Chapter 2: Trends in College Enrollment, Completion, Cost and Debt

19

Chapter 3: Public Views and Experiences

31

Chapter 4: Views of College Presidents

55

Chapter 5: The Monetary Value of a College Education

83

Appendices

1 Survey Methodology

115

2 Topline questionnaires

119

Copyright ? 2011 Pew Research Center





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