Rows of college graduates wearing graduate caps. Photo Credit: Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash (Uploaded May 20th, 2022)
With unemployment rising to 4.3%, the highest it’s been since 2021, the question of whether college is still the ticket to stability feels urgent.
Although getting a degree is not the guarantee it once was, it shouldn’t be overlooked completely.
In the past, a college degree guaranteed that an individual would secure a job. Today, many people are facing the same dilemma, regardless of education level – unemployment.
Students are beginning to question the value of their hard-earned degrees that have caused most to go in debt. If the reward for spending tens and thousands in loans is unemployment, then the system is failing students.
While college still opens the door for fields such as medicine, law and engineering, for many young students, the financial burden outweighs the career security.
Among many panicking college seniors, there is an overwhelming task to find a job as graduation dates are approaching, which is just as daunting as it sounds.
According to Jensen Kornfeind, a recent college graduate with a degree in international trade interviewed by NBC, getting a job was “frustrating.”
“Out of 70-plus job applications, I had three job interviews, and out of those three, I got ghosted by two of them,” the graduate said. Unfortunately, this is the reality for many college graduates in the US.
On social media platforms such as TikTok, many young adults have expressed their frustrations about how difficult the job market is today.
One TikTok user shared that she graduated over a year ago with a bachelor’s degree and is still yet to find a job. Another user shares how he graduated with a master’s degree and is facing the same issue. A Target employee even expressed a feeling of content with being employed despite not being in her desired career field after graduation.
Nevertheless, college degrees are still valuable today. Beyond the job market, college degrees paint a picture of hard work, dedication and resilience in a college graduate and that matters. Before society decides to close the chapter on college, people should readjust our reality to that of today’s economy.
Today, a growing number of companies are shifting their requirements from degrees to skill-based hiring. Thus, although obtaining a college degree is still valuable, students need to demonstrate what sets them apart from the rest–skills.
A 2023 LinkedIn survey showed that 75% of hiring managers believe skills-based hiring will play a big role in the future, as employers shift their focus to highly skilled individuals.
The fact is the value of the college degree is depleting but not gone. College remains a good investment and recalibrating our expectations of what that value looks like in today’s economy is what matters. More students need a chance at higher education regardless of the outcome.
