College has changed a great deal in the last 25 years. For one thing, we have an urgent crisis of college affordability. Due to skyrocketing tuition, the average student in the U.S. now graduates with about $30,000 in student loans. Simultaneously, colleges are facing crises of completion — only about 50% of matriculating students ever complete a degree — and employability. More than 40% of new and recent graduates are underemployed in their first job. And for those who are underemployed in their first job, two thirds are underemployed five years later, and half are underemployed a decade later.
Will a Bachelor’s Degree Matter as Much for Gen Z?
Faster and cheaper pathways to good first jobs are poised to supplant slow, expensive bachelor’s degrees (particularly from non-selective colleges and universities) in Gen Z’s affections. Gen Z has already been prejudiced against large upfront investments. Why buy a car when you can summon one with an app? Why subscribe to a cable bundle when you can stream individual networks and shows? The sharing economy will not leave the $500B higher education sector unscathed. Gen Z wants to get its foot on the first rung of a career ladder — a good first job quickly, and without incurring any debt — before deciding what secondary or tertiary postsecondary education pathways to follow in order to bolster cognitive skills, become managers, move on, and move up. The goal isn’t less postsecondary education per capita. That would be economic suicide in today’s global knowledge economy. Rather, the goal is to restage how that education is consumed, from all you can eat in one sitting, to what you need, when you need it.