Poll: Majority of Gen Z See College as a Scam

A new poll reported that 51% of Gen Z view college as a waste of money.

According to the job's website Indeed, the poll highlighted a generational divide among those who consider a college degree worth the investment. Only 20% of baby boomers saw a four-year degree as a bad investment; for millennials, that figure nearly doubled to 41%, and by the time it reached Gen Z, it was 51%. The poll did not mention Gen X.

Indeed noted that "For decades, getting a degree meant substantially higher wages. From 1980 through about 2010, the gap between what college graduates earned and what those with only high school diplomas earned grew significantly. But recently, this advantage has hit a wall. Economists note that the "college wage premium" has plateaued.

"I don't find" the results of the poll "surprising at all," Sean Lyons, the associate dean at the School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph, told Newsweek.

"For Boomers, a college degree in any area was sufficient to secure a middle management position and have a good life. With each passing generation, new technologies and the relentless corporate drive to create shareholder wealth have eliminated jobs for people without specialized skills."

Lyons added that two forces were contributing to the growing negative appeal of college degrees: an oversaturation of degrees in the market but also the degrees themselves being insufficient to cover the market's demand for technical expertise.

"The skill set for employment in today's post-industrial economy requires technical skills that are not typical of what baby boomers, Gen Xers, or even millennials required to succeed," Lyons explained. While colleges have tried to offer highly technical degrees — for their graduates — landing a job can be "a bit like threading a needle."

He went on to add that in generations prior, a college degree was relatively rare, so it carried a career premium. But the "academic arms race" made it so degrees were necessary but, at the same time, not enough.

Throughout the years, college in the United States has become much more expensive. In 1963, the average cost for tuition and room and board of a four-year degree was $11,411. In 1980, it was $10,097. It rose to $13,819 in 1990. The trend continued into 2016, with total costs amounting to $26,559, and by 2022, costs jumped again to $27,673.

The Harris Poll conducted the survey for Indeed, looking at 772 adults from March 27 to March 31 with an associate's degree or higher who were either fully employed, partly employed, or unemployed. The margin of error was ± 4.1 percentage points.

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