Gen Z has never been comfortable maintaining the status quo.
From calling out toxic work cultures to pronouncing skinny jeans dead, Gen Zers aren't afraid to shake things up.
And now they've targeted an American tradition: going to college.
Between skyrocketing tuition costs and underwhelming salaries, some Gen Zers are skipping college altogether, writes Charlotte Lytton. It's a move that's gaining momentum, as four million fewer people enrolled in college in 2022 compared to 2012.
And honestly, universities had it coming.
For years, debates have raged over the value of a college degree. Going to college for plenty of people amounted to spending six figures on a piece of paper. Little of what they learned in the classroom applied to their eventual careers.
But the pandemic exposed the college experience's broken facade.
Whether it was trading meme stocks and crypto, investing in NFTs, or starting an OnlyFans, people didn't need a formal education to make boatloads of cash. Suddenly, racking up student debt while taking gen-ed classes from your childhood bedroom didn't sound like a good use of time or money.
Social media, specifically TikTok, didn't help. The platform turned people into stars overnight. Who wants to write papers when they can try and be the next Alix Earle?
Of course, plenty of those gold mines didn't last. Meme stocks and crypto crashed. NFTs blew up. TikTok hasn't been the cash cow some creators thought it would be.
(Earle, for what it's worth, graduated from the University of Miami this May and is now funding a scholarship for business students at the school.)
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