JACK RICCARDI ON DEMAND AIRED TUES. 10/06/2026

Uh, here's a Gallup poll.

By the way, we boosted this for the JR poll today, kind of.

I, I modified it a little bit.

Here's a Gallup poll, um, percentage of people who consider college very important is at the lowest point ever in the fifty years that Gallup has been asking this question.

Um, only thirty-one percent think a college education is very important.

That's down four points from last year's poll.

It's the lowest it's been since they've been asking the question in nineteen seventy-six.

Even to like twelve years ago, um, it was a huge majority of people that believed college was very important.

At the same time, the percentage of adults who say a college education is not too important has gone from six percent twelve years ago to twenty-nine percent today.

So the way we're gonna ask it on the JR poll, powered by River City Oral Surgery, is college worth the money always, rarely, or sometimes? How would you vote? How do you vote? Is college worth the money always, rarely, or sometimes? Why do you think this is happening? Um, it turns out that, um, there are some variations.

Uh, the decline spans a lot of different demographic groups.

Women, Democrats, and college graduates are more likely to think college is very important.

Um, there is a kind of bubble in higher education, wouldn't you say, where they don't know how they are perceived by the general public? I mean, every industry has that to some degree, right? You always think that the public doesn't understand what you do or value what you do.

I think every profession has that to some degree.

But I, I can't help but think this precipitous decline is the result of a, a sort of a, a, a, you know, jig is up moment that we are going through with higher education.

And I mean, the Cornell story that's in the news right now is emblematic of that, but that's not the driver of this.

Th-this poll was taken in recent weeks.

But there's so many stories like the Cornell story.

There's so many stories where people on college campuses, people in academia seem to be from another solar system.

They're not reflecting our culture, which, correct me if I'm wrong, but higher education should be the, the distillation, right, or the essence of a culture.

It should be-- It, it should honor and impart the best things in a culture.

So whatever culture your university is located in and is a part of, you should be showcasing the knowledge, the, the art, the literature, the technology, the advancements, the, you know, the best of that culture.

You should also be, um, edifying and improving that culture, like sending young men and women out into the, the world through the gates of your university who are equipped to add to it, enhance it, conserve it, pass it, pass it forward.

Does anybody feel that's what's happening on college campuses for the most part right now with-- obviously with some exceptions, some smaller schools, maybe Hillsdale, but that's not what's happening.

These colleges are at war with the culture.

Uh, here's a Gallup poll.

By the way, we boosted this for the JR poll today, kind of.

I, I modified it a little bit.

Here's a Gallup poll, um, percentage of people who consider college very important is at the lowest point ever in the fifty years that Gallup has been asking this question.

Um, only thirty-one percent think a college education is very important.

That's down four points from last year's poll.

It's the lowest it's been since they've been asking the question in nineteen seventy-six.

Even to like twelve years ago, um, it was a huge majority of people that believed college was very important.

At the same time, the percentage of adults who say a college education is not too important has gone from six percent twelve years ago to twenty-nine percent today.

So the way we're gonna ask it on the JR poll, powered by River City Oral Surgery, is college worth the money always, rarely, or sometimes? How would you vote? How do you vote? Is college worth the money always, rarely, or sometimes? Why do you think this is happening? Um, it turns out that, um, there are some variations.

Uh, the decline spans a lot of different demographic groups.

Women, Democrats, and college graduates are more likely to think college is very important.

Um, there is a kind of bubble in higher education, wouldn't you say, where they don't know how they are perceived by the general public? I mean, every industry has that to some degree, right? You always think that the public doesn't understand what you do or value what you do.

I think every profession has that to some degree.

But I, I can't help but think this precipitous decline is the result of a, a sort of a, a, a, you know, jig is up moment that we are going through with higher education.

And I mean, the Cornell story that's in the news right now is emblematic of that, but that's not the driver of this.

Th-this poll was taken in recent weeks.

But there's so many stories like the Cornell story.

There's so many stories where people on college campuses, people in academia seem to be from another solar system.

They're not reflecting our culture, which, correct me if I'm wrong, but higher education should be the, the distillation, right, or the essence of a culture.

It should be-- It, it should honor and impart the best things in a culture.

So whatever culture your university is located in and is a part of, you should be showcasing the knowledge, the, the art, the literature, the technology, the advancements, the, you know, the best of that culture.

You should also be, um, edifying and improving that culture, like sending young men and women out into the, the world through the gates of your university who are equipped to add to it, enhance it, conserve it, pass it, pass it forward.

Does anybody feel that's what's happening on college campuses for the most part right now with-- obviously with some exceptions, some smaller schools, maybe Hillsdale, but that's not what's happening.

These colleges are at war with the culture.