Jessica Iannacchino finally made it to Madison Avenue in New York City, but her dream career remained elusive. At 21 years old, hailing from Poughkeepsie in New York state, she had attended public universities in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in advertising, paying out-of-state tuition and committing to monthly student loan repayments for the coming years. Moving to Manhattan with hopes of establishing herself in the industry, she found all doors closed to her.
To cover rent, she worked as a food delivery driver and found enjoyment in acting, landing a few minor roles. Several of her friends also struggled to find jobs in their fields of study and were burdened with expensive student loans from attending Columbia University and New York University.
“We moved here to explore career opportunities, but found the competition fierce and the job market not as welcoming as we had imagined,” Jessica told Epoch Times. “The economic pressure is immense, and we are unsure of when things will turn around.”
A recent survey by the Pew Research Center corroborated Jessica’s predicament, showing that 7 out of 10 adults believe the U.S. higher education system is heading in the wrong direction, a significant increase from 56% who held this belief five years ago.
Policy experts, federal legislators, and President Trump are all aware of Americans’ skepticism regarding the value of attending college and are advocating for increased transparency in educational investment returns.
Andrew Gillen, a researcher at the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom, remarked, “A college degree is no longer the automatic ticket to the American Dream and the middle class it once was. This has actually been the case for a while; it’s just that public perception is catching up to reality.”
According to the latest Education Pays report from The College Board, in 2021, 39% of Americans aged 25-29 held a bachelor’s degree, a significant increase from 22% forty years ago. The report also indicated that the median income for bachelor’s degree holders was $73,300, $44,300 for high school graduates, and $52,100 for associate’s degree holders.
However, these statistics often cited by high school guidance counselors are overly general and do not apply across all fields. A study published this year by Preston Cooper, a senior researcher at the American Enterprise Institute, revealed that 23% of bachelor’s degrees and 43% of master’s degrees actually result in a “negative return.”
In a report from April, Cooper wrote, “All colleges should abide by an educational version of the Hippocratic Oath: Students should not be financially worse off for having gone to college.”
The Department of Education’s College Scorecard online tool provides data on median earnings of graduates by degree type, major, and school. However, when searching for a bachelor’s degree in sociology, for example, it shows that out of 1,003 colleges nationwide offering the program, the majority do not list median earnings and debt figures for graduates.
Albertus Magnus College in Connecticut is among the few schools providing such data. Based on responses from 17 graduates, the median earnings for sociology program graduates four years after graduation were $42,513, with a median loan amount of $34,360.
In 2020, Gillen pointed out in a report that over 3,700 college programs in the U.S. did not pass a “debt-to-earnings test,” with at least 7,000 programs being on the brink of risk.
Considering that over 100 colleges have closed since then, and millions of students are struggling with student loan debt, Gillen suggested that each school and program in the U.S. should have investment return calculation tools based on federal income tax data rather than relying solely on voluntarily provided graduate data.
“This can help people think more rationally about the value of attending college,” Gillen told Epoch Times.
President Trump’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education has been offered to numerous institutions across the U.S., providing priority consideration in federal funding allocation to schools that agree to certain conditions related to enrollment, hiring, equity, affordability, and transparency, including a requirement to publicly list average earnings of graduates by major.
A group of university professors at an online seminar hosted by Heterodox Academy on October 28 expressed support for the contract’s cost control, transparency, and accountability mechanisms.
Anna Krylov, a chemistry professor at the University of Southern California, said, “Academic excellence is being eroded, and this is a major problem that we must address.”
In Congress, the bipartisan College Transparency Act was reintroduced in late July in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. If passed, the National Center for Education Statistics will be responsible for analyzing the cost and financial aid of higher education, assessing student enrollment patterns, graduation rates, and “outcomes after college.”
Republican lawmakers at a recent subcommittee meeting acknowledged the heavy burden of student debt faced by many young people in their districts who struggle to find decent-paying jobs.
Glenn Grothman, a Republican representative from Wisconsin, noted that a 21-year-old truck driver at Walmart in his district earns about $135,000 annually, while a cashier he recently encountered at a local grocery store with a master’s degree earns nearly minimum wage.
“This situation is all too common,” he said. “It has become the norm.”
Walmart stated that the annual income for its truck drivers could reach up to $110,000.
The traditional college-age population in the U.S. is consistently declining. As student numbers dwindle, many colleges face financial difficulties, with more closures expected in the coming years.
Websites from K-12 school districts, state university programs, and workplace training partnerships show that high school students across the country can now earn college credits before obtaining their diplomas, further impacting college enrollment numbers and revenue. Additionally, vocational education and apprenticeship programs are experiencing a resurgence.
Gillen suggested that even if colleges resist Trump’s call for public disclosure of average graduate earnings by major, market forces will eventually come into play. Schools cannot sustain long-term those “zombie majors” with low enrollment numbers and low return on investment.
“Colleges often wait until a crisis hits before enacting reforms in their operations,” he said. “I believe we will soon see this situation unfold.”
Nevertheless, for those willing to set aside adolescent dreams later in life, there are still new opportunities to explore. Nathan Sharpe from Rome, New York, had enrolled in a computer science program at Mohawk Valley Community College because the institution advertised a potential $60,000 annual income after graduation.
However, a decade later, Sharpe had not received any job offers in that field. He worked his way up from a payment processor to a business analyst at a local bank and then switched to a copper manufacturing company, where he currently serves as a chemical technician.
“That degree was essentially worthless to me, other than being proud to say I was the first in my family to complete college,” Sharpe told Epoch Times. “I would steer my son towards more technically skilled professions – like plumbing or electrician work. I don’t want him to repeat my mistakes, which set me back several years.” ◇