Why Degrees Are Losing Value: What Parents Need To Know About Higher Ed And Youth Unemployment
Last month, I came home from grading 10th grade research papers to find my 22-year-old nephew Jake hunched over my kitchen table, half a cold pepperoni pizza next to his open laptop, a stack of crumpled resume printouts at his elbow. He’d just graduated with a bachelor’s in business administration, and was crashing at my place while his mom was out of town for work, squeezing in interviews between job applications.
“How many have you applied to this week?” I asked, pouring myself a cup of coffee.
“Forty-two,” he said, not looking up. “Thirty of them want a bachelor’s for a $17 an hour entry role. All but eight want two to three years of experience. What was the point of four years and $41,000 in student loans if I can’t even get a callback for a job that pays more than the coffee shop I worked through college?”
I’ve been teaching high school long enough to see the shift firsthand. Twelve years ago, when I started, most of my students who put in the work to get a four-year degree walked into a solid entry-level job within a few months of graduation. Now, I talk to at least three or four parents a year who reach out asking what I think, because their kid graduated six months ago and is still living on the couch, sending out applications every day with no luck. Degrees aren’t worthless, but they’re definitely not the golden ticket they were for our generation. It makes sense that parents are panicking, wondering what the future actually looks like for their kids.
The math is pretty straightforward. Forty years ago, less than 20% of adults in the U.S. had a bachelor’s degree. Now, that number is over 37%. A degree used to be a clear signal to employers that you had the discipline and basic skills to show up and get work done. Now, almost every applicant has one, so it doesn’t set you apart anymore. On top of that, most four-year degree programs haven’t updated their curriculums to match what employers actually need right now. A general business degree doesn’t teach you how to run the specific project management software companies use, or how to analyze data with the tools they rely on. You get a lot of broad theory, but not much you can point to and say “I can do this day one.”
I don’t have all the answers, but I’ve seen what works for the kids I’ve worked with over the years, and what my own family has tried. Nothing is guaranteed, but these small, concrete steps have made a real difference for the people I know.
First, stop treating a four-year degree as the only acceptable outcome right after high school. If your kid doesn’t know what they want to study, don’t pressure them to take on tens of thousands in debt to “find themselves” for two years at a four-year university. One specific thing you can do right now, if your kid is a junior or senior in high school, is help them apply to three to five entry-level trainee roles or part-time apprenticeships in fields they’re curious about. It doesn’t cost anything to apply, and most of these roles pay minimum wage or better while you learn. Jake, for example, ended up taking a part-time admin job at a local construction company that didn’t require a degree. He’s working 30 hours a week, making enough to cover his bills and pay down a little of his loans each month, and he’s working towards his project management certification on nights and weekends – the company covers half the cost. He already got a raise after three months, and the owner told him he’d move him up to project coordinator once he finishes the cert. That’s a far better spot than he would’ve been in if he’d just stayed home applying to jobs waiting for a callback.
Second, encourage your kid to build one small, tangible thing per year while they’re in college that they can show a hiring manager. Degrees are just a piece of paper now – employers want to see what you can do. A specific question I tell parents to ask their kid every semester when they come home for break is: “What one thing can you build or do in the next six months that you can add to your portfolio, besides your classes?” It doesn’t have to be big. A communications major can run social media for a local church or small bakery for free. A business major can make a sample budget and marketing plan for a hypothetical local coffee shop. A graphic design major can do three free flyers for local nonprofits. One of my former students did that when he was studying marketing – he had three small clients before he graduated, and he had a job offer two months before he walked across the stage. He didn’t have better grades than anyone else, he just had something to show for his time.
Third, go look at trade and certification program outcomes before you rule them out. A lot of parents still see vocational school as a backup for kids who aren’t “smart enough” for college. That’s an old, wrong idea. Last year, I looked up the starting salaries for my local community college’s trade programs: HVAC techs have an average starting salary of $52,000, dental hygienists start at $68,000, and electricians average $60,000. That’s more than the average starting salary for a bachelor’s degree holder right now, and most two-year programs cost a fraction of a four-year degree. One of my best students from five years ago didn’t want to go to college, his parents pushed him for a year, he dropped out, went to the HVAC program, he’s 26 now, owns a small house, no debt, makes more than I do as a teacher. A specific low-effort step: next time your local community college has an open house, spend an hour walking through the trade and certification section, just to see what’s available. You might be surprised by what you find.
Jake still has a ways to go, and he still complains sometimes about the debt he took on for a degree that didn’t get him that first job. I still worry about my own 16-year-old son, who’s starting to think about what comes after high school. The old system is broken, and there’s no clear new system that’s taken its place yet. Higher education isn’t going away – it’s still necessary for doctors, teachers, lawyers, and a lot of other fields. But it’s not the guaranteed path it used to be. The best we can do as parents and teachers is stop clinging to the old rules, and help our kids build tangible skills and experience, whatever path they pick. It’s messy, and there are no guarantees, but it’s where we are right now.
Please indicate: Thinking In Educating » Why Degrees Are Losing Value: What Parents Need To Know About Higher Ed And Youth Unemployment