- 57% of the Class of 2025 really feel pessimistic about their fast job prospects
- 45% of scholars fear that AI and the present political local weather will negatively impression job availability and safety.
- 54% of scholars say that their scholar mortgage debt is a significant supply of stress.
Because the Class of 2025 embarks on their last 12 months of school, a brand new survey from Handshake reveals a sobering outlook. Key findings from the survey present {that a} vital 57% of this 12 months’s seniors really feel pessimistic about beginning their careers, with competitors for jobs, scholar mortgage debt, and the rise of generative AI contributing to their issues. This marks a stark enhance in pessimism in comparison with the Class of 2024, which noticed 49% reporting comparable emotions final 12 months.
The survey, which included responses from 1,925 college students throughout 521 U.S. schools, highlights the extreme pressures dealing with this 12 months’s graduating faculty class.
Class Of 2025 Pupil Mortgage Debt
Pupil mortgage debt was highlighted as a giant concern for the Class of 2025. Greater than half (54%) of the scholars pointed to scholar loans as a big stressor. Solely 46% consider the quantity of scholar mortgage debt they’ve is manageable.
Whenever you evaluate this survey knowledge with our personal Pupil Mortgage Debt Statistics that present that the typical scholar mortgage borrower may have over $37,000 in scholar loans, it may be daunting.
This common month-to-month scholar mortgage fee for 2024 is at present estimated to be $504 per 30 days. Nonetheless, that quantity is skewed due to the excessive variety of debtors in income-driven reimbursement plans with $0 funds.
Profession Prospects
College students stay hopeful about their long-term profession prospects, however most acknowledge fast challenges. 57% of respondents to the survey really feel pessimistic about their fast job prospects. This nervousness is exacerbated by a turbulent political local weather and uncertainty in regards to the impression of AI on the job market.
Whereas fast job alternatives appear bleak, a majority of scholars nonetheless consider their faculty expertise has geared up them with the talents essential for private {and professional} progress.
Based on the survey, 88% of respondents felt that faculty contributed considerably to their private improvement, whereas 68% believed it’s going to assist them safe a well-paying job.
Nonetheless, many college students are nonetheless taking proactive steps to enhance their job prospects. The survey discovered that 68% of seniors have been attending profession gala’s and networking occasions, 63% have been making use of to extra jobs, and 61% have been pursuing internships.
Nonetheless, not all college students are partaking with out there sources: one-third of respondents reported having no expertise with their faculty profession heart. That is regarding.
Closing Ideas
The Class of 2025 is simply the most recent class to face a tricky job market and scholar mortgage debt. This has been an on-going battle for faculty graduates because the early 2000s.
Nonetheless, expertise and rising prices are making the identical struggles appear more difficult and are permitting them to be extra seen to the general public.
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