A new survey by New York City-based Public Agenda finds that the majority of today's young adults strongly believe in the value of higher education.

According to the survey, Life After High School: Young People Talk About Their Hopes and Prospects, young Americans aged eighteen to twenty-five view going to college as a "positive" thing to do, with 74 percent agreeing that college "helps prepare you for the real world." And even larger percentage — 77 percent of African Americans, 81 percent of Hispanics, 85 percent of Asian Americans, and 81 percent of whites — said that "people respect you more when they know you've graduated from college." At the same time, the survey found that attending college is still not commonplace for most African Americans and Hispanics and that both groups were less likely (10 percent) to have earned a bachelor's degree than their Asian American (28 percent) and white (18 percent) peers.

Moreover, substantial numbers of respondents felt their high school teachers and classes should have done more to prepare them for college-level work. But young adults also hold themselves accountable for their poor preparation for college, with 69 percent of African Americans, 75 percent of Hispanics, 70 percent of Asian Americans, and 65 percent of whites admitting that they themselves "could have paid a lot more attention and worked harder" in high school. The survey also found that financial pressures force most college-bound African Americans and Hispanics to compromise on college choice and that inspiration from adults, particularly parents, was crucial to a young adult's college decisions.

"Most young people have absorbed the 'Go to college, get more education' message," Public Agenda president Ruth Wooden told the Associated Press. "Whether they're getting the nuts-and-bolts, real-life help and guidance they need to reach that goal — to actually succeed in graduating from college — is another matter."

Life After High School was funded by the College Board and the GE, George Gund, W.K. Kellogg, and KnowledgeWorks foundations. To download the complete report, visit: http://www.publicagenda.org/research/pdfs/life_after_high_school.pdf.