As AI reshapes the job market, college grads are calling out a painful truth: their diplomas didn’t keep up. A growing number of recent college graduates are sounding the alarm on what they didn't learn. From debt to doubt, many say their degree left them underprepared for a rapidly shifting economy, and they're now scrambling to catch up. In a national survey of 597 recent grads, respondents opened up about the emotional and professional cost of higher education that didn't anticipate the AI revolution.
Key Takeaways
- 21% of recent college grads believe their degree is already outdated in today's job market.
- 22% of recent college grads would have picked a different major if AI's future impact had been clearer when they were in college.
- Nearly 1 in 4 recent college grads (24%) feel their lack of AI-related skills limits their earnings potential.
Is AI Outpacing Higher Ed?
- 21% of recent college grads believe their degree is already outdated in today's job market. Communications majors (35%) were most likely to say so.
- Outside of engineering and math majors, law/pre-law majors (22%), education (19%), and those in trade or technical programs (20%) were most likely to receive full courses or modules on AI.
- Outside of engineering, Law students (22%) were most likely to say they received a few courses on AI, followed by business students (10%) and those in trade or technical programs (10%).
- Humanities and social sciences majors were most likely to say they received no coursework on AI (73%).
- 22% of recent college grads would have picked a different major if AI's future impact had been clearer when they were in college, with math majors being the likely to say this at 44%.
Confidence Crash: The Emotional Cost of Falling Behind
- 30% of recent college grads say the rise of AI has made them feel like they're "starting from zero" professionally.
- Nearly 1 in 4 recent college grads (23%) feel their lack of AI-related skills limits their earnings potential. Mathematics majors were most likely to say this at 56%.
- 37% of recent grads say they're not confident applying for jobs that mention AI or automation-related skills.
- 1 in 4 college grads have avoided applying for a job because the description required AI or automation-related skills.
Methodology
We surveyed 597 Americans ages 19–59 who graduated from college within the last five years. Forty-two percent identified as men, 2% as non-binary, and 56% as women. Respondents' fields of study included business (23%), computer science (14%), health professions (11%), natural sciences (10%), psychology (9%), fine arts (7%), social sciences (6%), education and engineering (5%), humanities (4%), communications (3%), technical programs (2%), mathematics (2%), and pre-law (2%). Percentages in this study may not total 100 exactly due to rounding.
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