Americans are losing faith in the value of a college degree, with majorities of young adults, men and rural residents saying college isn\u2019t worth the cost, a new Wall Street Journal\/NBC News survey shows.<\/p>\n
The findings reflect an increase in public skepticism of higher education from just four years ago and highlight a growing divide in opinion falling along gender, educational, regional and partisan lines. They also carry political implications for universities, already under public pressure\u00a0to rein in their costs<\/a>\u00a0and adjust curricula after\u00a0decades of sharp tuition increases<\/a>.<\/p>\n Overall, a slim plurality of Americans, 49%, believes earning a four-year degree will lead to\u00a0a good job and higher lifetime earnings<\/a>, compared with 47% who don\u2019t, according to the poll of 1,200 people taken Aug. 5-9. That two-point margin narrowed from 13 points when the same question was asked four years earlier.<\/p>\n