After 40 years in higher ed, I know college still matters — and here's why
John Nader, newsday.com
![Farmingdale State College](/sites/default/files/styles/image_media_xl/public/2024-07/screenshot_2024-07-26_at_11.26.38_am.png.webp?itok=5qoXkXiO)
The past few years have been difficult for college and universities. Concerns about costs, results, retention, and campus conflict have damaged the prestige and standing of higher education. A recent Gallup Poll reported that only 36% of Americans expressed significant confidence in the value of a college degree.
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To be sure, cost and completion remain issues that have eroded public confidence. Frankly, higher ed has become a political football. The best thing colleges can do is talk persistently and clearly about being engines of social mobility, while acknowledging we can do better.