Midwestern Postsecondary Value and Opportunities
Midwest Postsecondary Education Value and Opportunities provides the first-ever comprehensive regional analysis of perceptions of higher education among Midwestern adults who have not yet earned a degree or credential.
Drawing on data from the 2025 Lumina Foundation-Gallup State of Higher Education Study, the report provides policymakers and higher education leaders with additional data to inform strategies for expanding educational opportunity and strengthening connections between postsecondary education and workforce needs.
Key Findings
Midwestern adults continue to see higher education as valuable. Among Midwestern adults who have not earned a college degree, 70 percent say earning a two- or four-year college degree is as important or more important to achieving a successful career today than it was 20 years ago. Most also view postsecondary education as an important pathway to career success, economic opportunity, and long-term prosperity.
Positive perceptions of postsecondary education do not always translate into enrollment and completion. Most Midwestern adults without a degree believe that investing in a two- or four-year degree would be worthwhile and would pay off relatively quickly. Just over half of adults not currently enrolled have considered pursuing additional education in the past two years.
Affordability and flexibility can influence the decision to enroll. Financial considerations, access to financial aid, program flexibility, and confidence that education will lead to meaningful career outcomes all play a role in adults’ perceptions and decisions about whether to pursue additional education.
The report unpacks perceptions of higher education among key subgroups in the region. Most Midwestern adults who never enrolled in postsecondary education and those from rural communities believe associate and bachelor’s degrees are worth the investment. These value perceptions of postsecondary education hold across several other subgroups in the Midwest including sex, race/ethnicity, and age.
