In your opinion, how important is a college education today?

Very important (34%) – "Its not just the degree, its the skills you learn along the way, the connections you can make, and the ability to persevere. In my opinion, trade schools are equally important as an alternative route, but everyone should do something after high school to further their education."

• "College isn't just about the classes and assignments. College teaches one to achieve and persevere. To accomplish a goal. It also provides a well rounded general education as well as instilling curiosity. Finally, it provides a networking situation like no other. Friendship forged at college can last an entire life. It's who, not what."

"A college education IS very important, but that fact shouldn't be confused with the misconception that it's universally necessary. College is meant to be a place for a community of learners, but it's been reduced to what amounts to a wildly expensive credential (that's quickly losing credibility). Part of this is because people have been told for decades that they need to have a college degree regardless of their predilections & future plans; as university degrees became increasingly common, the job guarantee post-grad becomes increasingly less true"

Fairly important (41%) – "It depends on what you need the degree for. If colleges didn't have you waste so much money on basic classes and spent more time immersing students in their degree area, and if the jobs are actually available upon graduation, going into debt for a degree could be worth it. If you can get the same training through micro-ctedentials and certifications, and you can do it all while on the job training, why do you need a 4 year degree?"

• "I actually work in the education space in a way, and I still see the value of having a degree, as long as universities step up to help make their degrees more beneficial. The need for experiential learning and internships are extremely valuable to the workforce and need to be pushed more at universities."

"The value of getting a college degree is related to what you will be doing with it. Many careers require the additional education college provides, therefore making getting the degree valuable for those individuals who want to pursue those careers. But just going to college to have a degree likely adds cost without benefit. It used to be that college was the place to figure out that you wanted to do if you hadn’t figured that out already by high school graduation, but given the cost of college now there are better, more cost effective ways to explore career options."

• "The researchers are spot on with their hypotheses. The value of the degree is to get a foot in the door. Combine that with action, drive, and results, then you have success. What you learned in college has been diminishing in value for decades. As an employer, I always end up teaching college grads what is really important. Very rarely was there something they learned in school that directly applies. That wasn't always the case. The most value now is teaching students how to critically think - but that's not a key piece of most curriculum."

Not too important (25%) – "As it stands today, college is not critical to having a successful career if you're intentional about it. I used to believe that college was the place to go because, regardless of degree, it taught you how to think critically about the world and different issues, but I don't believe that anymore. Critical thinking skills are most lacking in those who are being indoctrinated by universities and it's time for students to wake up from the college trance and think for themselves."

• "You failed to mention the politicization of our college campuses and the faculty who "teach" there. The far-left element that drives the campus rhetoric to antisemitism and assassination has taken control of our "higher learning" establishments to the detriment of our youth and culture."

"As someone who got their bachelor's degree within the past 3 years and is considering getting another degree in the future, I really think that for a growing number of Americans a degree is becoming 'not too important.' I don't know if that's necessarily true for the majority yet, but it might be soon. I'm disappointed by the number of students who go for the college mainly for the 'experience' rather than for their education. The cost is insanely high and most people don't run the numbers. For specialized careers - medicine, engineering, the sciences, etc. it's a must-have. If you want to be involved in academia, it's also a must have. For just about anything else? Make sure you really know what you're getting yourself into. Growing numbers of people completely switch careers after graduating or drop out. If you do decide to get your degree, make sure to make the most out of it. Stay invested in your classes, learn critical thinking, and use it to connect with smart minds and strong internships."