Consumed with pandemic-era grief, Gen Z’s apathy towards attending college has grown — even influencing students as young as middle schoolers, according to The 74.
A new YPulse report found two in five Gen Z students agree with the statement: “The pandemic has made me less interested in pursuing higher education.”
Middle school students, generally 11 to 13 years old, not only contribute to the trend but also lead the view that work experience is more valuable.
That attitude has translated into an 8% decline in college enrollment from 2019 to 2022, showing how attending college is no longer a given for Gen Z.
“Seeing the way many Millennials are saddled with insurmountable debt from the higher ed system, and knowing from their online lives that other paths are possible, these high school and even middle school students are reconsidering if they even need college to be successful,” YPulse wrote in the report.
Gen Z advocates Brian Femminella, co-founder and chief executive officer of SoundMind, Bella Santos, community leadership board president of The Conversationalist, and Ian Gates, policy and program quality fellow of The Opportunity Project Tulsa talk about key takeaways from the report:
YPulse found 80% of Gen Z middle school students and 85% of high school students plan to go to college compared to 100% pre-pandemic. Gates, 22, said pandemic-era online learning showed younger Gen Z students how monotonous taking classes can be — whether they’re in middle school, high school, community college or a four-year institution.
“[Gen Z] is thinking about different options now,” Gates tells The 74. “A lot of us are thinking about non-college careers…like being a Youtuber, influencer and other alternate paths like that.”
Femminella, 23, says his own college education didn’t necessarily help him start his mental health company.
“When I see how a lot of younger kids would rather do something else, I applaud that,” Femminella telss The 74. “We need more folks that want to do different things and shouldn’t fall into the stigma of college being a must.”
YPulse found Gen Z students were more likely to choose Google and YouTube over a teacher when asked: “If you wanted to learn something new, what resources would you use?”
Santos, 20, wasn’t shocked.
“There is often not a ton of oversight when it comes to how choosy schools are with who gets to teach — especially in public schools,” Santos tels The 74. “Teachers and the system in which they teach aren’t always suited for success to begin with.”
Gates said disparaging parent attitudes towards teachers and school curriculum also has an effect on how Gen Z questions the value of a college education.
“With the parental rights movement, certainly when you’re telling your kid ‘hey your teachers are trying to indoctrinate you and make you communist and make you gay’ it obviously gets to them,” Gates says.
Gates adds how states such as Florida, which have banned AP Psychology and AP African American Studies, contribute to Gen Z’s disinterest in pursuing higher education by not exposing them to diverse courses.
YPulse found 55% of current Gen Z undergraduate students and 38% of Gen Z graduate students found their classes not relevant to their lives — in part because college doesn’t teach practical skills such as mental health skills, cooking and personal finance.
“Learning should be an enriching experience no matter what your interests are,” Santos says. “Yet school systems are often set up to just drill information into people’s brains.”
YPulse found that 74% of Gen Z students wish they learned more about alternative career paths compared to a traditional college education.
Santos says the social stigma of not attending college is declining among Gen Z students.
“I don’t think it’s for everyone, I don’t think it’s necessary, so it makes sense that other people in my generation see that,” Santos says.
YPulse found that 57% of Gen Z middle school students and 49% of Gen Z high school students believe work experience is more important than a college education. Femminella says work experience has been the most helpful tool to his success.
The 74
