46% of new graduates are working in jobs below their qualifications. $1.8T in student loans. Why is this still the default choice?
I saw some labor market data a few days ago and honestly it's been stuck in my head. Nearly 46% of new college graduates are working in jobs that don't need a degree at all. The average student loan balance is around $34k, and total student debt is close to $1.8 trillion. And yet somehow the traditional advice is still: go to college, sign the loan papers, and deal with the consequences later, because that's what people do.
I'm not against education at all. I'm just questioning the system itself. Years of lectures, theoretical courses, maybe an internship if you're lucky, and then you graduate and wait for the job market to figure out what to do with you.
Lately I've been looking at other models where people learn by doing things, work across different countries, get exposed to real companies and measurable outcomes. Things like Minerva, Mesa, newer venture-builder programs, etc. I'm not saying they're perfect, but I feel like they're much less disconnected from reality than the regular path.
Has anyone else started to feel how strange it is that the traditional path is still accepted like this???