Over half of Gen Z professionals say their college degrees were not worth the cost — and many believe artificial intelligence has already rendered them irrelevant. That’s according to a March 2025 survey by the Harris Poll on behalf of Indeed, which found that 51% of Gen Z degree holders now question the value of the very diplomas once seen as tickets to financial stability.
A generation in doubt
The survey, conducted among 772 U.S. adults with at least an associate degree, revealed a striking generational divide: just 20% of Baby Boomers and 41% of Millennials said their degrees weren’t worth the money. Additionally, 52% of all respondents reported graduating with student debt.
In a separate report by Indeed’s Hiring Lab in February last year, employers were also found to be scaling back education requirements. The report noted that only 17.8% of job listings required a four-year degree in January 2024, down from 20.4% in 2019. Meanwhile, 52% of postings included no formal education requirement at all.
The cost-benefit collapse
The findings suggest that the economic return on a college education is no longer guaranteed. Tuition has risen between 32% and 45% over the past 20 years, even after adjusting for inflation. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the types of skills employers demand.
According to the Harris Poll, 30% of respondents said AI has made their degree obsolete — a figure that rises to 45% among Gen Z.
That perception is reflected in workforce behavior. The O’Reilly 2025 Technology Trends report in January recorded massive surges in AI-focused upskilling: prompt engineering training rose 456%, generative AI by 289% and AI principles by 386% in a single year.
Asian American communities
For many Asian American families, higher education has long represented stability and upward mobility. First-generation students often shoulder both financial burdens and cultural expectations that a degree will secure long-term success. But as college credentials lose value, that foundation is being shaken.
A 2023 Pew Research Center study found that Asian American workers face the highest risk of AI-driven displacement, with 24% holding jobs highly exposed to automation — more than any other racial group.
In Indeed’s analysis of 47 occupational categories, sectors like software development, information design and project management — fields where many Asian Americans have built careers — are found to be among those reducing formal degree requirements.
This story is part of The Rebel Yellow Newsletter — a bold weekly newsletter from the creators of NextShark, reclaiming our stories and celebrating Asian American voices.
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