Once considered the golden ticket to career success, a college degree doesn’t carry the same weight today. According to recent Indeed Hiring Lab research, employer demand for college degrees is falling, and our new survey reveals workers have mixed feelings about the ROI of higher education. We surveyed¹ 772 professionals in the U.S. with an associate degree or higher, revealing that about half of the respondents from Generation Z, more than any other generation, are skeptical about the value of their degree. The generational value gap While only 20% of Baby Boomers consider their degrees a waste of money, that number increases by about 10% with each generation, jumping to 51% for Generation Z respondents. Why such a dramatic difference? For decades, getting a degree meant substantially higher wages. From 1980 through about 2010, the gap between college and high school graduates’ earnings grew significantly, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. But recently, what economists have termed the "college wage premium" has plateaued. At the same time, college has become dramatically more expensive. U.S. News reports that tuition and fees across all universities in the United States over the past two decades have jumped between 32% and 45%—public, private, in-state and out-of-state—even after accounting for inflation. For many, this financial burden follows graduates long after they receive their diplomas. Over half (52%) of our respondents reported graduating with student debt. Millennials were hit particularly hard, with 58% of those surveyed carrying education loans into their careers. The consequences extend beyond monthly payments. Nearly four in ten respondents (38%) believe their student debt hindered their professional growth more than their degree helped, a devastating assessment of what was supposed to be a stepping stone to success. Unsurprisingly, respondents with student debt (41%) are more likely to think that their degree was a waste of money than those without debt (31%). Part of the problem in the equation regarding the value of college degrees may be simple math: more people have degrees now. As sociologist Jonathan Horowitz explains in his research on the relative advantage of degrees, "When college degrees are more common, there may not be enough highly-skilled jobs to go around; some college-educated workers lose out to others and are pushed into less-skilled jobs." The combination of stagnating wage benefits, skyrocketing costs, degree saturation and debt may explain why younger generations increasingly question whether college is worth it. Skills-reality mismatch At the same time, while most college graduates acknowledge learning valuable skills during their education, an increasing majority believe they could perform their current roles without their degrees—in fact, 68% of Gen Z respondents confirmed that they believe they could do their job without a degree, versus 64% of Millennials, 55% of Generation X and 49% of Baby Boomers. Hiring Lab’s research suggests that a majority of employers might be on the same page—as of January 2024, 52% of job postings on Indeed no longer include formal education requirements, up from 49% in 2019. This suggests that employers may increasingly view high school and college graduates as more interchangeable than they once were. Despite this growing tacit agreement between employers and job seekers on the necessity of degree requirements, two-thirds (67%) of respondents in our survey would be bothered if they found out their colleagues obtained the same or a similar role without a degree. The resulting cognitive dissonance reflects the frustration many degree holders may experience after investing substantial time and financial resources into credentials only to discover the competitive advantage they expected from their educational investment has significantly diminished in practice. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, college graduates are entering a job market where conditions have deteriorated considerably for college graduates, further reducing the wage advantage that made college such a clear economic choice for previous generations. The value beyond technical skills While some question the ROI of their degrees, others still report finding value in the college experience, especially when learning is focused on aspects beyond technical training. As Nico Maggioli, a communications design graduate from Syracuse University, explains: "I think my degree was worth it, mainly for the purpose of being at Syracuse." Maggioli’s experience highlights how his program focused not on technical details but on developing a designer's mindset. "My teachers mainly focused on how we think and … view the world as designers rather than focusing on all the technical details, which I think is super useful right now, especially with AI because now you don't really need to know any technical details of design, AI can do it for you," he said. Rethinking education for an AI-driven world Educational institutions are under increasing pressure to adapt as AI continues to change the workplace and, even more critically, the way we learn. However, as noted in a previous conversation with Francisco Marmolejo, Higher Education President and Education Advisor at Qatar Foundation, the rate at which technology is evolving would make it inadvisable to restructure education around the latest technology. "It would be naïve to think that focusing on the technicalities of specific AI tools could be the best possible approach,” he explained. “Let's keep in mind that, in the end, specific tools can change and can become obsolete much quicker than expected." Instead, Marmolejo advocates for focusing on what he calls "essential skills" (traditionally labeled as "soft skills"). "A big advantage of generative AI is that educational institutions will have more time to prepare students on the humanistic side,” he notes. “More effective efforts can and should be dedicated to making sure that all students become competent in much more valued skills for the future of work, such as analytical skills, teamwork, and critical thinking." This aligns with Maggioli's experience at Syracuse, where the focus was on developing a designer's mindset rather than technical proficiency—precisely the kind of education that remains valuable even as AI capabilities expand.
Once considered the golden ticket to career success, a college degree doesn’t carry the same weight today. According to recent Indeed Hiring Lab research, employer demand for college degrees is falling, and our new survey reveals workers have mixed feelings about the ROI of higher education. We surveyed¹ 772 professionals in the U.S. with an associate degree or higher, revealing that about half of the respondents from Generation Z, more than any other generation, are skeptical about the value of their degree.
The generational value gap While only 20% of Baby Boomers consider their degrees a waste of money, that number increases by about 10% with each generation, jumping to 51% for Generation Z respondents. Why such a dramatic difference? For decades, getting a degree meant substantially higher wages. From 1980 through about 2010, the gap between college and high school graduates’ earnings grew significantly, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. But recently, what economists have termed the "college wage premium" has plateaued. At the same time, college has become dramatically more expensive. U.S. News reports that tuition and fees across all universities in the United States over the past two decades have jumped between 32% and 45%—public, private, in-state and out-of-state—even after accounting for inflation. For many, this financial burden follows graduates long after they receive their diplomas. Over half (52%) of our respondents reported graduating with student debt. Millennials were hit particularly hard, with 58% of those surveyed carrying education loans into their careers. The consequences extend beyond monthly payments. Nearly four in ten respondents (38%) believe their student debt hindered their professional growth more than their degree helped, a devastating assessment of what was supposed to be a stepping stone to success. Unsurprisingly, respondents with student debt (41%) are more likely to think that their degree was a waste of money than those without debt (31%). Part of the problem in the equation regarding the value of college degrees may be simple math: more people have degrees now. As sociologist Jonathan Horowitz explains in his research on the relative advantage of degrees, "When college degrees are more common, there may not be enough highly-skilled jobs to go around; some college-educated workers lose out to others and are pushed into less-skilled jobs." The combination of stagnating wage benefits, skyrocketing costs, degree saturation and debt may explain why younger generations increasingly question whether college is worth it.
Skills-reality mismatch At the same time, while most college graduates acknowledge learning valuable skills during their education, an increasing majority believe they could perform their current roles without their degrees—in fact, 68% of Gen Z respondents confirmed that they believe they could do their job without a degree, versus 64% of Millennials, 55% of Generation X and 49% of Baby Boomers. Hiring Lab’s research suggests that a majority of employers might be on the same page—as of January 2024, 52% of job postings on Indeed no longer include formal education requirements, up from 49% in 2019. This suggests that employers may increasingly view high school and college graduates as more interchangeable than they once were. Despite this growing tacit agreement between employers and job seekers on the necessity of degree requirements, two-thirds (67%) of respondents in our survey would be bothered if they found out their colleagues obtained the same or a similar role without a degree. The resulting cognitive dissonance reflects the frustration many degree holders may experience after investing substantial time and financial resources into credentials only to discover the competitive advantage they expected from their educational investment has significantly diminished in practice. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, college graduates are entering a job market where conditions have deteriorated considerably for college graduates, further reducing the wage advantage that made college such a clear economic choice for previous generations.
The value beyond technical skills While some question the ROI of their degrees, others still report finding value in the college experience, especially when learning is focused on aspects beyond technical training. As Nico Maggioli, a communications design graduate from Syracuse University, explains: "I think my degree was worth it, mainly for the purpose of being at Syracuse." Maggioli’s experience highlights how his program focused not on technical details but on developing a designer's mindset. "My teachers mainly focused on how we think and … view the world as designers rather than focusing on all the technical details, which I think is super useful right now, especially with AI because now you don't really need to know any technical details of design, AI can do it for you," he said.
Rethinking education for an AI-driven world Educational institutions are under increasing pressure to adapt as AI continues to change the workplace and, even more critically, the way we learn. However, as noted in a previous conversation with Francisco Marmolejo, Higher Education President and Education Advisor at Qatar Foundation, the rate at which technology is evolving would make it inadvisable to restructure education around the latest technology. "It would be naïve to think that focusing on the technicalities of specific AI tools could be the best possible approach,” he explained. “Let's keep in mind that, in the end, specific tools can change and can become obsolete much quicker than expected." Instead, Marmolejo advocates for focusing on what he calls "essential skills" (traditionally labeled as "soft skills"). "A big advantage of generative AI is that educational institutions will have more time to prepare students on the humanistic side,” he notes. “More effective efforts can and should be dedicated to making sure that all students become competent in much more valued skills for the future of work, such as analytical skills, teamwork, and critical thinking." This aligns with Maggioli's experience at Syracuse, where the focus was on developing a designer's mindset rather than technical proficiency—precisely the kind of education that remains valuable even as AI capabilities expand.
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