A college degree can lead to higher earnings—but 29% of Americans say it's not worth the cost

A bachelor's degree can run close to $100,000 a year at some colleges.

Most Americans agree it's still worth it, but the bulk of those believers say so only if you don't have to take out loans, according to a new survey from Pew Research. Just 22% of U.S. adults say the cost of college is worth it if you have to take out student loans, Pew finds.

The financial arguments in favor of going to college remain strong. Bachelor's degree-holders tend to earn higher salaries, have lower unemployment rates and hold more wealth than their less-educated peers. But the cost of college continues to rise and millions of Americans are still struggling with student debt long after graduating.

All considered, 29% of U.S. adults say college isn't worth the cost, according to Pew.

On top of that, workers with only some college education or a high school diploma alone have made notable strides toward closing the financial gaps between themselves and degree-holders, Pew finds.

Here's a look at why the benefits of getting a college degree aren't necessarily shrinking, but the reasons to skip higher education may be growing.

The difference a degree can make

Outcomes may be improving for American workers who forego college or don't finish their bachelor's degrees. But the vast difference between the net worth of young adults with degrees compared with those without is difficult to ignore.

Households headed by a college graduate ages 25 to 34 had a median net worth of $120,200 in 2022, compared with $30,700 among high school graduates and $52,900 for those with some college, according to Pew.

All three groups saw their wealth grow significantly in the last decade, due in part to the explosion in home values in the last few years and the stock market's recent strong performance. But college graduates stood to benefit the most from both of these broader economic conditions.

"[College graduates] are more likely to be homeowners, so they probably have more home equity," Richard Fry, a senior researcher at Pew who co-authored the survey, tells CNBC Make It. "Their employers are more likely to offer defined contribution retirement plans and the college-educated are more likely to participate in those retirement plans."

Their stronger homeownership and retirement plan contribution rates and may be due to the fact that college graduates earn more.

However, since student loans historically have gotten in the way of many college graduates buying homes and even saving for retirement, the question of whether the benefits outweigh the cost — especially if you have to take on debt — still stands.

While nearly half of Americans say a college degree is less important today than it was 20 years ago, according to Pew, only 34% say it's very or extremely likely someone without a degree could get a well-paying job today.

'The bleeding has stopped'

College degree-holders have been out-earning their less-educated peers for decades. Those with degrees have seen their wages rise fairly steadily — outside of recessions — since the 1970s, Pew finds.

On the other hand, those who either never started or didn't finish college saw their wages fall from the 1970s through the Great Recession in the mid-aughts.

In the last 10 years, however, the situation has started to improve. "The bleeding has stopped," Fry says.

He calls out young men (ages 25 to 34) as an example of the growth those without degrees have experienced over the last decade.

The inflation-adjusted median annual earnings among young men who work full-time and only have high school diplomas was $45,000 in 2023, up from $39,300 in 2014, according to Pew's analysis of Current Population Survey data.

"Their inflation-adjusted earnings are at least finally starting to grow," Fry says. "That's noteworthy because with the exception of the late 1990s, once you adjust for inflation, their earnings have been pretty steadily falling."

Young women (ages 25 to 34) without college degrees experienced similar growth over the last decade, but still earn less than their male peers. The inflation-adjusted median annual earnings among working young women with only high school diplomas were $36,000 in 2023 compared with $30,900 in 2014..

While earnings have also continued to grow for those with college degrees, the improvement for less-educated workers is good news for those who may not be able to afford college, even if they think it would be worth the cost.

"[Those without degrees] haven't really narrowed the gaps, but this still is somewhat of an exceptional period because they have really gained from the tight labor markets where employers have had trouble finding less skilled workers," Fry says. "The less-educated young workers really benefited from the tight labor markets of the last 10 years."

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