Americans’ opinions about higher education are dramatically shifting.

Amid skyrocketing college tuition costs and a school debt crisis, more people are asking whether a college degree is worth the money. But the skepticism about the value of a postsecondary education goes beyond just the financial concerns, with some groups challenging the value of the knowledge itself. To help policymakers, educators, and the public better understand these changes and identify fruitful ways to respond, New America, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., realized it needed clear and reliable information.

NORC conducts annual surveys to keep pace with emerging issues in higher education.

With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, New America partnered with NORC in 2017 to take over an existing survey project called Varying Degrees. NORC overhauled the survey, adding online data sources to traditional telephone methods. We also revamped the survey questions to make sure their terminology was appropriate for the wide range of participants.

Each year, NORC fine-tunes the survey’s language as the public’s understanding of complex issues, such as education debt, changes. While the study comprises seven core sections, NORC adds topical sections each year to capture opinions about evolving issues. For example, the 2022 study dug deeper into student loans and the use of standardized tests in admissions.

In 2020, we began using the NORC AmeriSpeak® Panel for data collection to reach traditionally underrepresented populations, such as Black, Latinx, and Asian-American communities, as well as hard-to-reach young adults and current students.