A survey released earlier this month about the value of a college education is getting a lot of attention for some of the wrong reasons. The common headline is that Gen Z doesn’t value higher education. That’s not exactly what the study shows.
It’s also important to remember that Gen Z includes people between the ages of 11 and 26. The youngest members of this generation are entering middle school and nearly half are not yet college-age if you exclude dual enrollment options. Additionally, the oldest members of this generation notched higher rates of high school graduation than did the generations who preceded them.
The survey, conducted by YouGov, found that the Zoomers they talked to weren’t sold on the value a college education. That headline doesn’t explain why a higher percentage of Gen Z high school graduates started college (57%) than their Millennial (52%) and Gen X (43%) counterparts. In a Gallup study commissioned by the Walton Family Foundation, 85% of Gen Z respondents said that higher education is “fairly” or “very” important. However, only 62% said they planned to go to college after graduating from high school.
The primary reason for not making immediate college plans? Their perceptions of higher education cost versus its value. This generational calculation is not based on cost alone, which is why the notion of free community college – which subtracts the cost element – still falls short in the value department.
Bachelor’s degrees have the opposite problem; they score high marks in terms of value, but the cost is unsustainable for most students. From Gen Z’s perspective, they can either have a free degree that doesn’t get them anything or suffer the weight of unimaginable debt for a degree with authentic earning potential. Higher education doesn’t represent a real choice for these students.
Gen Z balances degree cost against value
In the race to capture the hearts and minds of prospective students, four-year institutions are going to lower the cost of a bachelor’s degree. They can accomplish this through tuition reductions, financial aid, sponsorships, or any number of other options that limit the student’s financial exposure. The only way for community colleges to compete in this environment is to increase the marketplace value of a two-year degree.
Improving a two-year degree’s earning potential increases its value and balances out the cost v. value calculation for an associate degree. If community colleges expect to attract recent high school graduates, they must address the earning potential of their degrees. If they do not, they cannot legitimately compete with better funded, better recognized four-year institutions for the limited number of college-bound students.
The value of an associate degree has become an existential question for community colleges. Gen Z is waiting for an answer.
Photo Credit: Gilles VIART , via Flickr
