Gen Z is not interested in going to college

For many young people, college is not really necessary because it is expensive and does not necessarily lead to high - paying jobs.

It only took one semester for Rushil Srivastava, a former computer science major at the University of California, Berkeley, to realize college wasn't what he expected.

“When I was a kid, I thought college was going to be a life-changing experience and that freshman year was the time to discover who you are,” he said. But the Covid-19 pandemic made studying difficult, so Rushil decided to drop out.

Soon after, Rushil started a job search company. Now, at age 20, while his friends were entering their senior year of college, he had more than a million dollars in venture capital. Despite missing out on college, Rushil has no regrets.

Rushil is one of many Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) college dropouts in the US. Last year, 4 million fewer young people applied to college than 10 years earlier.

For many, the soaring cost of college has become unaffordable. Tuition fees increased by an average of 12% each year between 2010 and 2022. It now costs an average of $104,108 to attend a four-year public university. It costs $223,360 at a private university.

Meanwhile, the wages young people earn after graduating are only a fraction of what they paid for their education. In 2019, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center, a social research center, the income of young workers with college degrees has barely changed in 50 years.

A third of college graduates earn less than $40,000 four years after graduation, according to a recent survey by the Higher Education Administration. That’s lower than the average income of $44,356 earned by those with only a high school diploma. When you factor in student debt of about $33,500, it would take them years to catch up with their peers without a college degree.

Illustration: Unsplash — Illustration: *Unsplash*

The growing gap between value and cost has changed Gen Z's attitudes toward higher education.

A 2022 survey by Morning Consult, a global market research firm, found that only 41% of Gen Z “have confidence in American universities,” significantly lower than previous generations.

This is a big shift compared to the late 8x and early 9x generations. According to 2014 data from the Pew Research Center, 63% rate a college degree highly or plan to attend college. Additionally, among those who have graduated, more than 40% rate college as “very useful.” This number is even higher for previous generations.

If they choose to pursue college, Gen Z is most concerned with finding a well-paying job, especially in today’s volatile economy. Majors that offer high-paying jobs, such as computer science, engineering, business, and health sciences, are increasingly popular.

The University of California-Berkeley has established the College of Computing, Data Science and Society for the first time. Although Computer Science was a new major 5 years ago, it is now among the top 3 hottest majors at the school.

This trend shows that students have realized the importance of the major for competitiveness and career longevity, according to James Connor, Dean of the School of Business and Information Technology, San Francisco Bay College.

In contrast, humanities majors have plummeted. Last year, only 7% of Harvard University’s incoming class studied the humanities, compared with 20% a decade ago and 30% in the 1970s. At Marymount University, nine majors, including English, History, Philosophy, etc., were eliminated in February of this year.

"The truth is that studying literature and other forms of humanities only attracts the interest of students who do not need a job making money right after graduation," said Richard Saller, a professor at Stanford University.

Students also use their free time to maximize their career prospects. They attend seminars to learn more about the current economic climate, take online classes to complete their degree faster, and stay up-to-date on the job market.

American universities are trying to attract students by offering online courses at lower costs or allowing students to design their own curriculum.

Phuong Anh (According to Business Insider )

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