Consumer Alert: The Media Isn’t Honest About Higher Education
The conspiracy I’m seeing (over and over) is that the media really hates higher education. Through biased reporting, sloppy writing, and weak research, journalists keep trashing higher ed in a reckless way. Watching this happen, I’ve come to realize that 1st Amendment reporting (for the most part) is just fiction writing that’s constitutionally protected.
So maybe not a conspiracy; maybe just bad journalism.
Or maybe it’s something worse like ditching credibility for clicks.
The newest example of this trend comes from Fortune, one of America’s most anti-college publications. Crafting the title below, Fortune immediately baits readers into a hostile view of higher ed:
Any way you read it, this title intentionally, purposefully, and strategically implies that:
Colleges and “worthless degrees” have caused over 4 million Gen Zers to go jobless.
But how true is this?
One Big, Fat Misleading Number
Spoiler … it’s not even a little true.
For its BIG unemployment statistic (i.e., “over 4 million Gen Zers are jobless”), Fortune links to the “Broad Recovery, Persistent Inequity: Youth Disconnection in America” report, which was published last October by Measure of America.[1] That report states:
The national youth disconnection rate[2] in 2022 was 10.9 percent, or 4,343,600 young people; this rate represents a near-return to the pre-Covid rate of 10.7 percent in 2019.
With this in mind, here’s a couple VERY IMPORTANT things you should know (conveniently omitted by Fortune):
#1. America’s youth “disconnection” is historically low.
Fortune attempts to create a crisis by highlighting a very large number, i.e., ”over 4 million Gen Zers are jobless.” However, Fortune neglects to mention that in terms of percentages, 10.9% is the second lowest youth disconnection rate (vs. 10.7% in 2019) since 2008. According to the report, “the [national youth disconnection] rate fell 22.7 percent between 2012 and 2022.”[3] Thus, Gen Zers are doing better today than in years past. In light of this, Fortune’s apocalyptic tone and title rings as both disingenuous and misleading.
#2. Youth “unemployment” in America is the lowest in the world.
To buoy the salacious statistic that ”over 4 million Gen Zers are jobless,” Fortune cites another BIG SCARY statistic (using some BIG SCARY language):
There’s been a mass derailment when it comes to Gen Z and their careers: about a quarter of young people are now deemed NEETs — meaning they are no longer in education, employment, or training.
To support this second data point, Fortune cites … (wait for it) … another article from Fortune, which states:
According to the International Labour Organization, about a fifth of people between 15 and 24 worldwide in 2023 are currently NEETs.
However, this statistic reflects a global population of 289 million young people, not just the 4 million young people in the U.S. If you extract the data from North America (i.e., the U.S. and Canada), there HAS NOT been a “mass derailment” when it comes to Gen Z and their careers. Instead, the International Labour Organization’s “Global Employment Trends for Youth 2024” lauds North America as the world’s leader in youth employment:
At 11.8 percent, the youth unemployment rate for the Americas has fully recovered from the peak seen during the COVID-19 crisis, representing a multi-decade low.
Rates for the Caribbean and North America fell to 18.1 percent and 8.2 percent respectively. The youth unemployment rate in North America was the lowest of all the world’s regions.
The youth employment-to-population ratios in Latin America and North America consistently fall above the global average.
#3. Gen Z includes 16–17 year olds.
The “over 4 million” young people cited in Fortune’s title includes an age range of “teens & young adults 16–24 years old.” So a percentage of these 4 million Gen Zers (i.e, 16–17 year olds) aren’t yet of college age.[4] Thus, for these individuals, it’s impossible to make any connection between joblessness and colleges/“worthless degrees.”
#4. 4 million Gen Zers are more than just “jobless.”
The “over 4 million” young people cited in Fortune’s title includes teens & young adults who are “neither working NOR in school.” So these 4 million indivduals must meet TWO criteria: 1) no job AND 2) no school. However, the title SPECIFICALLY and PROMINENTLY says that “over 4 million Gen Zers are jobless,” neglecting to include the other criteria … that they’re also disconnected from education, which for many Gen Zers means a “college” education.[5]
#5. Fortune’s “jobless” source is actually pro-education.
Fortune, in damning colleges for “worthless degrees,” fails to mention that Measure of America never once condemns higher education[6]. Instead, the report broadly praises the benefits of post-secondary education:
By the time they reach their thirties, people who worked or were in school[7] throughout their teens and early twenties earn $38,400 more per year and are 45 percent more likely to own a home, 42 percent more likely to be employed, and 52 percent more likely to report excellent or good health than those who had been disconnected as young people.[8]
#6. 35.5 million Gen Zers are NOT “disconnected.”
While trumpeting the “over 4 million” young people who are “jobless,” Fortune’s neglects to mention that this represents just 10.9% — from a pool of 39,830,300 — of young Americans.[9] What’s hidden from the reader is that 89% of Gen Zers — 35,500,000 total or 9 out of 10 — are either employed (many benefiting from a college degree) or in school (many pursuing a college degree).
#7. The 2024 report examines 2022 numbers; thus, it excludes the last 2 years of enrollment growth experienced in higher education.
Measure of America notes a decline in education (i.e., “school or college”)[10], with the data stopping at 2022. However, according to National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, college enrollment has been increasing from 2022–2024. The data shows:
- Total postsecondary enrollment is up 4.5 percent this fall [2024] (+817,000; Figure 1.2). Undergraduate enrollment neared 16 million, just 1.0 percent below 2019 levels (+4.7%, +716,000 this fall), while graduate enrollment grew to 3.2 million (+3.3%, +100,000).
- Freshmen enrollment grew 5.5 percent this fall [2024] (+130,000; see Figure 3.1). Building on last fall’s increases, the growth was strongest at community colleges, which added 63,000 freshmen (+7.1%). Overall 18-year-old freshmen also saw enrollment gains this fall (+3.4%, +59,000).
- Undergraduate enrollment grew 2.5 percent in spring 2024 compared to the previous year (+359,000) …. This is the second consecutive semester of year-over-year enrollment growth, continuing the trend from last fall’s [2023] 1.2 percent increase, following years of decline during the pandemic.
- [In fall 2022], freshman enrollment … [began] to rise, increasing by about 97,000 (+4.3%) compared to the previous fall.
So in reporting that “over 4 million Gen Zers are jobless — and experts blame colleges for worthless degrees,” Fortune tosses together a title that’s sensationalized, deficient, and grossly misleading.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Turning a Blind-Eye to the Full Story
If the Fortune article had examined Measure of America’s FULL report (instead of extracting a tiny data point from 43 pages of data), the TRUE higher-education story would’ve been this:
Apparently, Fortune never read to page 35 of the report because on that page, Measure of America specifically discusses WHO is disconnected. And guess what … “Bachelor’s Degree or Higher” is actually the 2nd lowest indicator of “disconnectedness” amongst teens & young adults. This means that graduating from college greatly REDUCES the odds (vs. the national rate) of being “disconnected,” despite Fortune’s implication to the contrary.
So the true state of Gen Z — contrary to Fortune’s very scary and alarming title — is this:
- Disconnectedness, amongst U.S. “teens & young adults 16–24 years old,” has actually “fallen 22.7 percent” over the last 10 years, with the most recent percentage (10.9%) being the second lowest percentage in a decade.
- Gen Zers in the U.S. enjoy a youth unemployment rate that’s the lowest of all the world’s regions.
- “Teens & young adults 16–24 years old” who have a “bachelor’s degree or higher” are less likely to be “disconnected” than every other demographic except one (i.e., “Asian” / 6.2%).[11]
Even worse for Fortune, the chart above (and the numbers in it) directly contradicts the very salacious (and very misleading) numbers in Fortune’s title:
Over 4 million Gen Zers are jobless — and experts blame colleges for ‘worthless degrees’
The title, any way you read it, asserts that “college” is to “blame” for a jobless pool of “over 4 million Gen Zers.” This is a gross misrepresentation of the facts. In truth, only 261,900 college graduates (vs. 4,343,600 Gen Zers) are disconnected, meaning the pool of degreed-disconnected youth is nearly 17x smaller than Fortune implies.
“Experts” … But What Kind?
And what about those “experts” mentioned in Fortune’s title? In the plural, “experts” suggests a lineup of education professionals who’ve researched and linked U.S. “joblessness” to U.S. colleges and “worthless degrees.” However, this suggestion proves wrong.
Yes, there are “experts” (just three),[12] but the only person Fortune quotes to support the jobless-worthless degree connection is British author, broadcaster, journalist, and commentator Peter Hitchens, who says:
“In many cases, young people have been sent off to universities for worthless degrees which have produced nothing for them at all,” the political commentator, journalist and author, Peter Hitchens slammed colleges last week.
This one quote comes from the British podcast “Alas Vine & Hitchens.” What Fortune neglects to include in their article is that Sarah Vine — Hitchen’s co-host — doesn’t agree with his “expert” opinion. She argues instead:
[T]he young people of this generation are uniquely workshy.
… Gen Z seem incapable of viewing jobs as a “stepping stone,” where people start at the bottom and gradually move on to bigger and better things.
“There seems to be this notion that that all work must be fulfilling and wonderful. I did a lot of rubbish jobs and then I was very lucky.”
If It Looks Like a Conspiracy and Smells Like a Conspiracy ….
So yes … there’s a HUGE conspiracy! First, it’s a conspiracy against good, unbiased journalism. Let’s be honest, journalism isn’t an altruistic activity; instead, it’s a billion-dollar business.[13] Money typically trumps truth which is why journalism (for the most part) has become less about first-rate reporting and more about third-rate shock. The more shock that’s published — unhindered by time-consuming research, time-consuming interviews, and time-consuming investigation — the more bait for those revenue-generating eyeballs.
And this conspiracy (my second point) spills over to higher education, which is a dog the press loves to keep kicking. Yes, higher ed has its problems, but NO, it’s not the cause of a jobless generation, it’s not universally dying, it’s not categorically hated, and it’s not the wrong option for teens. However, the press doesn’t care if these things are true or not. Instead, when it comes to higher ed, the press cares more about spin and shock and shoddy storytelling that’s “truthy” at best.
[1] Consider the strange mash-up of this article. The title’s hook — ”over 4 million Gen Zers are jobless”–-is an American statistic that comes from the Social Science Research Council (i.e., the Measure of America report), which is based in Brooklyn, N.Y. However, of the “experts” mentioned in the title (of which there are just three total), two are British and apparently have no connection to America’s higher-ed industry.
[2] “Youth disconnection rate” is defined as “the share of young people ages 16–24 who are neither working nor in school.”
[3] As the report states:
For a dozen years, we have charted the highs and lows of youth disconnection in America. Over the last decade, we clocked a steady decline in the national youth disconnection rate as the country recovered from the Great Recession, a sharp upward spike in 2020 caused by Covid-19, and a return in 2022 to near-prepandemic levels.
[4] As reported by Prosperity for America, only 1.4% of 16–17 year olds are enrolled in college, while nearly 94% of college enrollees are between 18–21 years old.
[5] If one of the criteria is “not in school,” this means a large percentage of the 4.3 million 1) never went to college or 2) never finished college. So how can colleges and “worthless degrees” have anything to do with these particular Gen Zers?
[6] Looking at the data, Measure of America makes no negative observations about higher education. Instead, these items and focuses are their concerns:
Four things stand out: first, stubborn gaps continue to separate racial and ethnic groups at the national, state, and metro area levels; second, though girls and young women have lower disconnection rates than boys and young men at the national level, in many places and among certain demographic groups, the female disconnection rate is higher than the male rate, a fact that gets too little attention; third, considerable variation exists among states and metro areas, with rates ranging from below 7 percent in greater Chattanooga, Boston, and Minneapolis-St. Paul to above 16 percent in Memphis, Bakersfield, and the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission metro area of Texas; and fourth, places differ sharply in terms of the progress made over the last decade. This report will focus on these four issues.
[7] Defined as “Part-time or full-time students who have attended school or college in the past three months.”
[8] Measure of America also points out that:
While a high school degree is essential to succeeding in today’s economy, graduation must be understood as a necessary but not sufficient step toward a thriving adulthood. Roughly one in four American young adults in the 22–24-year age range with a high school diploma (24.1 percent) are neither working nor in school, compared to 7.2 percent of their agemates with an associate degree and 6.7 percent of those with at least a bachelor’s degree.
[9] Without the full context, readers get stuck (purposefully I suspect) on 1 big, negative number … “over 4 million Gen Zers.” In journalism, this is a form of anchoring bias, strategically causing readers to rely heavily on the first piece of information they’re given about a topic. In the Fortune title, readers anchor to the “negative” 4 million number, never knowing the positive … that 35.5 million Gen Zers (about 9 out of 10) are actually working or in school.
[10] As stated in the report:
In 2022, as the youth disconnection rate returned to nearly pre-pandemic levels, we can see that enrollment and employment are on different trajectories: the increase in employment is the mirror image of the decline in disconnection, even as school enrollment continues to decline, a marked departure from pre-pandemic trends.
[11] According to the National Center for Education Statistics:
The [college enrollment] rate in 2022 was higher for 18- to 24-year-olds who were Asian (61 percent) than for those who were White (41 percent), of Two or more races (36 percent), Black (36 percent), Hispanic (33 percent), Pacific Islander (27 percent), and American Indian/Alaska Native (26 percent).
[12] Fortune cites a different “expert” for the title’s assertion that “a system of broken promises” is to blame for the rising number NEETs:
“Universities aren’t deliberately setting students up to fail, but the system is failing to deliver on its implicit promise,” [Lewis] Maleh tells Fortune.
“The current data challenges the traditional assumption that higher education automatically leads to economic security.”
Lewis Maleh is CEO of Bentley Lewis, a London-based staffing and recruitment agency. I’m not doubting Maleh’s expertise and intelligence, but I do want to note that his LinkedIn profile makes no mention of any specific expertise, deep research, or scientific study into higher education.
The third “expert” cited is Jeff Bulanda, vice president of the U.S.-based Jobs for the Future. At best, he makes a paper-thin connection between NEETs, college, “worthless degrees,” and “a system of broken promises.” He says:
Too much time has been focused on promoting a four-year degree as the only reliable route, despite the payoff being more uneven and uncertain, says Bulanda. Other pathways, like skilled trade professionals, should be a larger share of the conversation.
“It’s critical that young people are empowered to be informed consumers about their education, equipped with the information they need to weigh the cost, quality, and long-term value of every path available to them,” Bulanda says.
[13] “As an industry, news in the U.S. generates roughly $63 billion to $65 billion in annual revenue, according to Pew Research analysis of official filings, projections by financial firms and self-reported data.1 While admittedly an estimate, the figure provides a sense of scale: The global video game industry takes in about $93 billion a year. Starbucks reported $15 billion in 2013 revenues and Google alone generated $58 billion that year.”
