Abstract
This
study examines the evolving perceptions of higher education's value across four
decades (pre-1980 to 2020s) in the United States, analyzing data from the
General Social Survey (N=34,388). Using ordered logistic regression models,
this research investigates three dimensions of higher education's perceived
value: public support for education spending, financial satisfaction among
college graduates, and happiness levels of those with higher education
credentials. The regression models, which control for demographic and
socioeconomic factors, reveal a paradoxical pattern in how higher education's
value has transformed over time: while public support for education spending
has increased significantly over time and financial satisfaction among college
graduates has remained relatively stable, happiness among the college-educated
has declined dramatically in recent years, particularly in the 2020s. The
regression results show that compared to the pre-1980 period, the odds of
believing more should be spent on education were significantly higher in
subsequent decades, reaching 2.57 times higher in the 2020s (β = 0.944, p <
0.001). For college graduates specifically, this effect was even stronger, with
odds 2.82 times higher in the 2020s (β = 1.035, p < 0.001). In contrast,
regression models examining financial satisfaction among college graduates
showed no statistically significant differences across time periods, suggesting
stability in economic returns despite changing conditions. Most strikingly,
happiness models showed significant positive coefficients for the 1990s (β =
0.179, p < 0.05) and 2000s (β = 0.256, p < 0.01) compared to pre-1980,
but a large negative coefficient for the 2020s (β = -0.785, p < 0.001),
indicating a dramatic decline in subjective well-being. Additionally, the
analysis of return on educational investment revealed a substantial decrease in
respondents achieving high income without college degrees (from 43.82% to
12.90%) alongside an increase in college graduates experiencing low returns (from
13.57% to 23.63%). These findings suggest that higher education has become
increasingly necessary yet decreasingly sufficient for ensuring positive life
outcomes. The study contributes to theoretical understandings of education's
evolving social contract and has implications for educational institutions and
policymakers navigating the changing landscape of higher education's value
proposition in contemporary society.
