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Kate Cioffi
Professor Lori Bedell
The Normalization of College Education
Millennials may find it difficult to believe that just a generation ago, going to
college was largely a voluntary decision that required young adults to deeply consider
what career path they wished to follow. This freedom of choice is in stark contrast to the
pressure young adults feel today to pursue a university level education. Nowadays, higher
education is simply seen as necessary for success in the job market. In fact, 87.9 percent
of incoming college freshman in 2012 claimed to be able to get a better job was a key
factor in why they chose to go to college, as opposed to 67.8 percent of students reporting
the same in 1976 (Wyer). Large-scale shifts in the job market, accompanied by
technological advances, have pushed the limits of employable skills to include those that
are learned in college. Young people must adapt to these changing conditions, accounting
for the large increase in college enrollment from the 1970s until today (College
Enrollment). The emerging mentality that everyone should attend university is a natural
result of the dynamic social and economic climates of twentieth and twenty-first century
America. This progression, however, is also producing undesirable effects on Americas
youth and the current job market, making many reconsider our collective dependence on
college education.
With the dawn of the twentieth century came a rapid surge in mechanical
advances, which would come to greatly affect the ways Americans lived and worked.
About 38 percent of workers were employed on farms at the start of the century (Fisk),
which would come to drastically decrease as the century progressed and the types of jobs
needed greatly shifted. One key element to the changing economy was with Henry Fords
induction of the moving assembly line in 1913, allowing manufacturing to become a
driving financial force (Volti). This manufacturing boom was, of course, great news for

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working-age Americans, as companies needed many employees to perform minutely

planned tasks (Volti). These factories provided plentiful numbers of well-paying jobs
that required little skills beyond basic training, presumably making attending college a
low priority for most Americans.
As the United States became involved in World War II in the 1940s,
manufacturing employment rose dramatically in order to mass produce much-needed
weaponry (Short), contributing heavily to the expanding economy. This fruitful time in
American economic history provoked the proliferation of the middle class (Morley),
which would come to greatly affect the spending and living habits of average citizens.
Many Americans during this period now had more disposable income, allowing them to
soon be, as Professor Douglas Massey notes, uniquely capable of financing higher
education for their children (Massey). This lent to a large-scale movement toward higher
education at a time when around ten percent of adults had graduated college (Massey).
Getting a degree from a university was now more financially attainable not only for
middle-class America, but also for another large sectorwar veterans.
The G.I. bill was passed in 1944 to provide assistance to returning war veterans. It
included many benefits for young soldiers, such as helping them mortgage their homes
and providing unemployment compensation (G.I. Bill). Another key component of the
bill was that it greatly aided in covering the cost of trade school and college, allowing
nearly 10 million veterans to pursue higher education between its induction and its
termination in 1956 after the Korean War (G.I. Bill). The act was not without
controversies, as the US Department of Veteran Affairs reminds that many questioned
the concept of sending battle-hardened Veterans to colleges and universities, a privilege
then reserved for the rich. (History and Training). In fact, due to the implementation
of the bill, veterans were 2.3 times more likely than nonveterans to attend college in 1960

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(Massey). Despite its contention, the G.I. bill was clearly a factor in the increasing
accessibility of college education of America, shifting the notion of university as being
solely for intellectuals to having a purpose for even the most industrious of Americans.
Like any movement, the manufacturing boom of mid-century America did not
last. Domestic production of goods reached its peak in the 1970s, and then declined as
technological advances allowed our society to move towards the production of
knowledge and the control of information (Massey). Higher education, therefore,
became more important than ever as employers moved away from wanting as many
trainable workers as possible to needing a smaller, more knowledgeable staff. Big
science was on the rise as the government invested more time and energy into research
during and after the Cold War (Kneeland), perhaps accounting for why students began
feeling such a necessity to pursue higher education. The proportion of students enrolled
in college in 1973 was 24 percent, and has only steadily been rising since then (College
Enrollment), as skilled jobs in the fields of medicine, education, and the like have
become increasingly more prevalent in the workforce (Volti). Yet, the shift in public
opinion on higher education had yet to reach its peak, as college was still not seen as a
prerequisite for most jobs.
Between the Baby Boomer generation and the Millennials, a notable shift
occurred in the job market. Adults in the 1970s with only a high school diploma
maintained more success in the work force than modern young adults with the same level
of education. In 1979, those with at least a bachelors degree earned on average about
$41,989 (adjusted for inflation), while high school graduates earned $32,299, a difference
of approximately $10,000 (The Rising Cost). The disparity between these two groups
widened sharply by 2013 as the difference between earnings rose to around $17,500, as
shown in Figure 1 (The Rising Cost). This variation in wages can be largely attributed

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to the further specialization of jobs as time progressedthe service industry, which

includes almost all fields that are not manufacturing, rose to account for 78 percent of all
workers by 1999 (Fisk) and has only been increasing since then. The latter end of the
twentieth century is when Americas shift in public opinion on higher education truly
emerged as service jobs became the norm in the workforce. Since careers in these
growing fields, like Information Technology, require more specialized communication
and analytical skills, young adults have been pressured to adjust to these needs by
pursuing higher education.

Figure 1, Pew Research Center (The Rising Cost)

The refined skills that are taught in universities are indeed seen as beneficial by
employers today, which is encouraging for recent college graduates. In fact, about 27
percent of employers have increased the minimum standard of education for potential

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worker in the past five years, as they feel as though they are getting a better return on
investment from their college educated employees, according to studies (Git). This
spells bad news for anyone with less than a bachelors degree, as a high school diploma
no longer earns the jobs it used to a generation ago. The desire to hire only highly
educated candidates for these positions that do not necessarily necessitate such
qualifications, called upcredentialing by CEO and analyst Matt Sigelman, has created
troubling barriers in the job market (Bidwell). The prospect of bettering ones economic
situation is becoming less attainable for young adults as jobs that were once a
steppingstone to the middle class are now only available to those already in the middle
classthose who can afford attending college (Bidwell).
Even though the transforming job market is favoring individuals with higher
education, this does not mean that finding a job is a simple task for college graduates.
Obtaining a degree, now seen as almost compulsory amongst Millennials seeking service
positions, does not guarantee success. There is intense competition for a fixed number of
skilled jobs amongst Americans and their foreign counterparts, providing even greater
pressure on youth to excel. Both India and China are generating more English-speaking
college graduates every year than the United States, who could potentially find work in
America as the country becomes more globalized (Morley). As writer Patrick ONeil
contends, this globalization has brought extreme levels of competition across borders
and introduced new volatility in the employment situation (ONeill). Domestically, The
unpredictability of the work force does not go unnoticed by Millennials; according to a
study conducted by Rutgers University, about 50 percent of young adults feel as though
they are not as ready for entering the world of work than the previous generation
(Stone) despite the fact that they have received superior education.

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The increasing scope of higher education in the lives of young people is evident
even during the most adverse conditions. In 2009, in the midst of the Great Recession, 70
percent of high school graduates enrolled in college, the greatest proportion to date (Fry,
Minorities). This statistic bears testimony to the undeniable lure of college for
Millennialseven as tuition rose and grant and scholarship funds dwindled as a result of
Americas declining economy, more young adults were flooding into our nations
universities (Clark). The prospect of employment became even bleaker for young
Americans, especially those without bachelors degrees. This was a compelling force for
many to gain additional skills and make themselves more marketable, Pew Research
Center reports, explaining the rise in college attendance (Fry, More Millennials). As
vice president of the United States Student Association Lindsay McCluskey remarks, Its
a grim situation, but what choice do young people have? (Clark). For young adults,
higher education is becoming likened with survival in the harshness of the job market.
The Great Recession, and other economic forces that fostered an unprecedented
growth in national college enrollment, prompted unforeseen effects on the Millennial
generation. Young adults are seen as less independent than generations before, despite
their status of being the highest-education generation in American history (Thompson).
80 percent of young adults live with their parents again right after graduation, according
to a 2009 study by CCAP (Path). Even after improvements in the economy and job
market, this trend persists, as increasing tuitions and magnitude of student loans make
saving money the priority for most recent college graduates. Moving in with ones
parents is usually the most economical option. A Pew Research study reveals that
although employment rates of college-educated young adults increased after the Great
Recession, the number of Millennials heading their own household actually decreased

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slightly despite the growth in that demographic (Fry, More Millennials). Parents of
these students have largely accepted the shift in their childrens financial independence
80 percent of parents in 1980 thought their children should not be dependent on them by
age 22, while now only 67 percent of parents feel the same (Young, Underemployed).
The harsh, but certainly evident, reality of obtaining a college degree means that many
young adults must make extreme sacrifices in their personal lives in order to make this
decision profitable.
There remain some less foreseen effects to Americas ever-changing attitudes on
higher education. As alluded to earlier, there is this undeniable phenomenon of American
Millennials reaching benchmarks in adult life much later than previous generations. This
widespread occurrence is largely in part to the worsened economic situation of young
adults, marred by college debt and a competitive job market in the wakes of the recession
(Thompson). The unprecedented level of education attained by this generation comes at
the cost of delay[ing] plans for their own financial independence, by going to school
(Thompson). In addition to more young adults living with their parents, Pew Research
Center also reports that about 20 percent of young adults claim they have postponed
having a baby because of the bad economy, as well as postponed marriage (Young,
Underemployed). The median age of first marriage in 1970 was around 22 years old for
women and 24 years old for men, which rose to roughly 27 for women and 28 for men in
the year 2010 (Elliott), likely due largely to the more stable nature of the economy in
the1970. Evidently, the increasing proportion of college attendance in America is
affecting more than the economy, but reaching the personal lives and futures of this
generation, as well.
The circumstances of the past century were beyond the control of those who were
affectedWorld War II, the shift in American technology, globalizationthese were all

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forces that young people could not determine. Their only option, therefore, has been to
adapt in the most fitting way possible in order to survive. In many cases, this means to
attend college, which is happening at a rate not seen before in history. Unlike their
parents, Millennials see this as the only way to have a chance at being successful, and
statistics show they are not wrong in thinking so. There is an increasing disparity not only
between wages of college graduates and other employees, but also in the types of jobs
that are available to them. Millennials are thus reaching adulthood later due to their latent
financial independencewhich will undeniably have lasting effects on American society.
The rise in college education, though, has been a long time in the making. This
phenomenon does not displays signs of declining in the future, at least not to the levels
that were prevalent amongst young adults in prior generations. Maybe we are just now
seeing the effects of its culmination, but better, less uncertain times may just be on the
horizon for young Americans as the effects of the Great Recession wane and the nation
moves back toward economic stability.

Works Cited
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U.S. News & World Report, 9 Sept. 2014. Web. 3 Nov. 2015.

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