Gen Z’s New Path: Skip College

This op-ed originally appeared in The Well News on October 29, 2024.

Gen Z has been sold a lie: college is the only guaranteed path to success. 

For many, college is a road paved with debt, disappointment and dead-end jobs. Not only is it expensive, but it isn’t even preparing students for the job market. Therefore, employers are fed up, and so are students. 

The College Debt Trap

Gen Z is graduating with an average student loan debt of over $30,000, contributing to a national student loan crisis that now exceeds $1.7 trillion. But the worst part? For many graduates, that mountain of debt isn’t buying them the future they were promised.

A. Raspberry prioritized college, earning a bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business management. As a result, she has over $250,000 in student loan debt and hasn’t been able to find a job for four years. Raspberry wishes she would have gained work experience instead of degrees.

Consider this: One in four college graduates over the age of 25 are earning less than $30,000 a year. 

Those are poverty wages. 

And only 27% of graduates are using their degree in their actual jobs. Why? Because college is not about skills and knowledge anymore — it’s about the piece of paper.

Employers Are Over It

It’s not just graduates who are disillusioned. Employers are too. In fact, a recent report found that six in ten employers are firing Gen Z grads within months of hiring them. The problem? A lack of motivation, unprofessional behavior and poor communication skills. In other words, college isn’t preparing these young adults for the workforce.

As reported in Fortune, one in six bosses say they’re hesitant to hire new grads again, and some have given up on hiring them altogether. That’s a devastating indictment of our higher education system. 

Parents send their children to college believing it’s a guarantee of success. Unfortunately, many come out worse than they went in: buried in debt.

Embrace Alternatives

For years, experts have pushed the narrative that college is the only path to success. But that’s simply not true. We need to offer Gen Z — and their parents — better options. 

Alternatives like trade schools, apprenticeships, gap years and entrepreneurship are more relevant now than ever. These paths can equip young adults with real skills, practical experience and — here’s the best part — no crushing debt.

Take the story of Andrew McDonough, an 18-year-old who knew early on that traditional college wasn’t for him. Instead of going into debt for a degree he didn’t need, he joined a mechanized logging program. This five months of hands-on training is a partnership between a local community college and a local logging company. At the end of the program, McDonough will have a credential, a commercial driver’s license and a job. In fact, he will have no debt and no wasted years in a classroom. He’s not alone — millions of young people are starting to recognize that the four-year degree path isn’t the best option.

Students in the mechanized logging operations and forest trucking program at Northern Maine Community College, including Dan Higgins (fourth from left) and Andrew McDonough (second from right) listen to their commercial driver’s license instructor at their logging site in Kennebec Valley.

Students in the mechanized logging operations and forest trucking program at Northern Maine Community College, including Dan Higgins (fourth from left) and Andrew McDonough (second from right) listen to their commercial driver’s license instructor at their logging site in Kennebec Valley.

Gen Z’s New Path

Gen Z is wary of the traditional college route, and for good reason. In addition, they’re anxious about financial stability, skeptical of the value of a degree, and ready to explore other options. We need to support them in that journey. 

So, parents, take a breath. Help your kids find a new way. Whether it’s through a trade, starting a business or learning online, they’ll be okay. 

Gen Z doesn’t need to follow the same outdated formula. They need options, freedom and the chance to pursue careers that don’t come with a financial anchor.