By: Jeff Yun
For years, high school students have heard the same message : go to college and get a degree if you want to have a successful career. It’s been considered as the safest, smartest path to a stable future. But in recent years that message is starting to fall apart. With tuition cost at an all-time high, the rapid rise of AI , and the increase in competitiveness in colleges and the job market, many graduating seniors are beginning to question whether college is still worth it.
The financial side of college is hard to ignore. According to the Education Data Initiative, the average public school tuition costs $10,340 and the average for private schools is $39,307. That is double the cost of tuition two decades ago. For many students, that means getting loans. “I’m honestly more afraid of what comes after college. I’m afraid that I’m not going to find a job and to pay off that tuition, to pay off any of the student loans or any of that stuff,” said high school senior Andrew Lin. Students are being asked to invest heavily in a degree without guaranteeing it will be useful. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, 52% of college graduates are underemployed. Even 10 years after graduation, 45% remain underemployed.
Not only did tuition fees go up, so did competitiveness. Each year, the quantity of college enrollment and graduates is increasing, which is driving the competition. Not only are students and graduates competing against each other, they are also competing against AI. AI is transforming the job market. Jobs that once required human labor–writing, coding, customer service–are increasingly being replaced by AI. AI helps companies cut costs and increase efficiency, since, after all, AI doesn’t need to be paid a salary nor do they need days off. This often means that there are fewer job offers. For students preparing to enter the workforce, that’s a serious concern. “For computer science, the job market is getting increasingly competitive. With the prevalence of AI in coding and like vibe coding, I feel it’s getting harder and harder to get a job in the computer science field,” said junior Aditya Yadav.
Even with these challenges that the new generation of college students have to face, many still believe in the worth of going to college. “I mean, at the end of the day, everything is an investment. So I feel like with college, you’re going to gain access to a larger network and you’re going to get those connections. A lot of people who go to college tend to be pursuing some type of education anyway,” said senior Samuel Moon. Beyond academies and the degrees, college offers experiences that are difficult to be replicated elsewhere—networking and personal development.
Today’s seniors are reevaluating going to college. They’re asking tougher questions about cost, relevance in the job market and the ROI. College is no longer a guaranteed path to success. It’s an option. For some, college is what they are set on and for others, the risk may outweigh the rewards.
