Another Factor

There have been a number of articles of late indicating public opinion becoming dubious about the value of a college degree. For example, there is this from the Gallup Poll:*

And there is this from the NY Times:**

So while there is a political element in public perceptions, the decline in the perception of the value of college degrees seems to have an important labor market element. It isn't all about perceptions of college "wokeness" by any means. The percentage of the population with a college degree has trended upward for decades:***

It may now have hit labor market limits.

The current Stand Up for UC campaign seems to reflect this development. For example, a recent video in that campaign refers to federal threats to UC hospitals, UC health research, and UC military research. The only mention of going to college is a reference to federal financial aid for students.

Or direct to https://x.com/uc_newsroom/status/1967692983752417555 or https://ia802901.us.archive.org/7/items/newsom-7-2-2025-arrests-of-immigrants/UC%20campaign%209-15-2025.mp4.

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*https://news.gallup.com/poll/695003/perceived-importance-college-hits-new-low.aspx.

**https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/business/long-term-unemployment-college-grads.html.

***https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizations/time-series/demo/fig_2.png.