Higher education simply out of reach for most Americans

Higher education is getting costlier and that the expense may not be worth it, Americans said in a survey by the Pew Research Center.

The Washington-based research firm asked 2,142 adults 18 years old and above, between March 15 and 29, what they thought about higher education in the United States.

At least 75 percent of the survey participants said most Americans can't afford to go to college and almost 50 percent said they have been weighed down so much by student loans that it has become increasingly difficult to pay other bills.

Yet the same survey said that as much as 86 percent of those with college degrees consider higher education as a good investment, considering that they earned $20,000 on average annually because of their diplomas.

The Pew Research Center conducted the poll because the importance and worth of higher education is being questioned because of rising costs amid rough economic times.

President Barack Obama has repeatedly said that higher education is directly linked to competitiveness. He wants the country to have the highest college graduation rate in the world in a decade to improve upon its current 12th place in the developed world.

Another survey by the Pew Research Center with the Chronicle of Higher Education of 1,055 college presidents showed that 58 percent of them perceive high school graduates as ill-prepared to go to college compared to their counterparts ten years ago.

Only 19 percent believe that U.S. higher education is the best among all nations but seven percent said it will become the best a decade from now.