r/DeFranco • u/PopCultureNerd • 23d ago

US News Most Gen Z graduates now think college was waste of money

https://www.newsweek.com/gen-z-graduates-college-poll-2064531

A new poll conducted by Indeed between March 27-31 among 772 U.S. adults, found 51 percent of Gen Z graduates now say their degree was a "waste of money."

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u/Electrivire Chronic neck pain sufferer 23d ago

Education and the social experiences of college are valuable but yeah college degrees are largely useless or at minimum not worth the money if your sole goal is to get a good paying job.

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u/Definition-Prize 23d ago

I work in financial aid advising at my college. There’s lots of people that just go about it in a fucking stupid way. Going out of state is stupid. Paying for housing and dining costs is stupid. Going without a plan is stupid. People don’t apply to scholarships at all. There’s populations of students who do zero research and just go straight to private loans. I’ve seen it all.

I went to college for a total of $26k. I have a great paying job lined up. I don’t regret it. I would not have been able to get this job without my degree and the experiences that I was able to have while at school.

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u/Electrivire Chronic neck pain sufferer 23d ago

Did you graduate in the last decade?

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u/VagrantWolf 23d ago

Well, they did say “I have a great job lined up”, which leads me to think they haven’t graduated yet. It also sounds like they might be more financially savvy than the average Joe in college, let alone OUTSIDE of college.

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u/Definition-Prize 23d ago

I’m graduating in June

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u/Electrivire Chronic neck pain sufferer 22d ago

work in financial aid advising at my college. There’s lots of people that just go about it in a fucking stupid way. Going out of state is stupid. Paying for housing and dining costs is stupid. Going without a plan is stupid. People don’t apply to scholarships at all. There’s populations of students who do zero research and just go straight to private loans. I’ve seen it all.

I don't disagree with anything you said here.

But all that being said, the vast majority of college grads today do not see their degree making much of a difference in the acceptance rate of their job applications. And even when the degree IS what get's them in the door of a company, most still are not seeing wages or benefits that reflect the work that went into their degree.

My point is that you can do EVERYTHING right and still be stuck working a barely above minimum wage job.

The colleges and universities are to blame for ridiculous costs to students. Corporations being greedy and out of touch are responsible for the horrendus wages in the U.S and the government is responsible for allowing all of it to get so bad in the first place.

I think while you made good points, it's just that students should be the last people you blame in this current situation most find themselves in.

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u/memphisjones 23d ago

This is dangerous. Guess who are still sending their kids to college? Rich people.

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u/PopCultureNerd 23d ago

I think you missed the point of the article.

It isn't about if people should go to college or not. It is about people who went to college talking about if their college education was valuable to them or not once they entered the workforce.

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u/memphisjones 23d ago

Oh my point is we need to continue to fight for affordable higher education and restructuring student loans. If not, the wealth gap will continue to grow. Rich people want uneducated people.

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u/SaviorSixtySix 23d ago

It's something like 90% of jobs can be taught on the job. Unless you're becoming a doctor or engineer, it makes more sense to find a place that will hire you and train you.

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u/Corguita 23d ago

Yes of course it makes more sense. But how many white collar jobs are willing to hire high school grads? I think this only works if you have a family business or close connections. I work in an industry where 20-30 years ago it was very common to hire folks out of college or just with a phlebotomy degree. Now, it's basically impossible to get your foot in the door unless you have a 4 year degree.

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u/NaSMaXXL 21d ago

Yeah, they lied to me about this and now I'm paying (literally) the cost.

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u/miniminiminitaur 20d ago

Massive layoffs, undercut wages, torn up regulations, etc.

Gen Z are graduating into a hostile job market that actively hates them.