The academic year is starting again: lecture halls are filling up, syllabi are being handed out, and coffee is being rushed down. But there are dark clouds on the horizon. I’ve written before about how AI is reshaping science. Every lecturer knows how tools like ChatGPT are putting traditional assessment systems under pressure. As if that weren’t enough, troubling news is once more coming from the United States. There, higher education has been under (political) strain for quite some time.
Declining Trust in Higher Education: What the Gallup Poll Shows
Axios reported this weekend on the latest Gallup poll, and the numbers are striking: fewer and fewer Americans consider higher education to be “very important.” Ten years ago, 68% of Republicans said college was essential. Today, it’s barely one in five. Among Democrats, support has also fallen sharply. It decreased from 83% in 2013 to around 42% today.
And yet, the economic data tell a different story. Households led by someone with a bachelor’s degree earn an average of $132,700 a year, more than twice as much as those where the highest qualification is a high school diploma, at around $58,400. So yes, it pays off—but belief in its value is eroding.
Why Confidence in College Is Crumbling
The reasons aren’t hard to identify. Tuition costs are enormous, and the burden of student debt is crushing. At the same time, AI and automation are making even white-collar jobs less secure. Vocational careers that offer quick entry into the labour market are becoming more attractive. And universities are increasingly criticised for being elitist or politically one-sided.
Europe Isn’t There Yet — But For How Long?
The situation in Europe looks different—for now. Tuition fees remain relatively low in most countries, especially when compared to those in the US. There is no comparable student debt crisis that has been dragging down young adults for decades. Higher education is still widely linked to broader values: intellectual growth, citizenship, personal development—not just return on investment. However, that doesn’t mean the questions won’t start to grow louder here as well. Is it worth it to study? What is the real value of a degree? And how should universities respond to a rapidly changing labour market?
AI is reshaping expectations, and costs and returns are increasingly weighed against each other; public trust in universities can no longer be taken for granted. In the US, doubt has already become structural. In Europe, not yet. The real question is: for how long?