Graduation Is Around the Corner, But Are Seniors Ready?

Among conversations about the value of higher education and students’ return on investment, a majority of the class of 2024 say they’re confident they will have an opportunity to apply the skills they’ve learned in college, according to new research from Handshake.

The State of the Class of 2024 report, released April 30, finds seniors have high levels of confidence in using their curricular experiences in their next stage of life—71 percent among those still searching and 87 percent among those with an opportunity lined up.

The report highlights soon-to-be grads’ desire for job stability, their willingness to branch outside traditional roles for their discipline and how financial stress impacts learners after graduation.

Deciding what’s next: Around 30 percent of students had a job or graduate program lined up (as of March), and those students felt confident the opportunity will build their career (88 percent). The other two-thirds of seniors felt mostly confident they can find an opportunity that also builds their career (67 percent).

Among those who had settled on their next step, professional growth was the top reason they committed (69 percent), followed by career growth opportunities (61 percent) and personal passion for the work (54 percent).

Almost one in five seniors said they committed to an opportunity because it was the only offer they received, showing a need for additional support for students in the job-hunt process. Winter Student Voice data from Inside Higher Ed and College Pulse found 80 percent of students believe institutions should prepare them for a job they love and over half say they just want help finding a job quickly.

A March survey of college students found 46 percent measured their success in college by whether they landed their desired job after graduation and 23 percent believe a starting salary is an indication of success.

What keeps seniors up at night? Leaving college can be nerve-wracking as graduates venture out on their own. Mental health is top of mind for the class of 2024: three in five students (61 percent) say they’re worried about experiencing burnout after starting their career.

Over half (54 percent) are worried about not enjoying their work and a similar number worry about advancing their work (53 percent). Less common was anxiety around being lonely at work (34 percent).

Finances continue to plague the soon-to-be grads, even after leaving college. Over one-third (37 percent) worry about paying down their student loans and 59 percent worry about being able to cover basic expenses.

Almost 60 percent of respondents say current economic news makes them feel pessimistic, a 14 percentage point increase from the year prior.

On the hunt. When evaluating their next step, the greatest share of students (76 percent) say job stability is most likely to make them apply for a job, followed by location (75 percent), a positive employer reputation (72 percent) and high starting salary (71 percent).

Less important to seniors are a flexible schedule (61 percent) or hybrid work environment (46 percent).

The report also showed students are exploring roles outside of the norm for their field of study. For example, students majoring in computer science focused less on software engineering roles and pivoted toward information security and computer hardware. Business majors are looking beyond consulting roles and more likely to apply to consumer success, marketing or analysis positions.

Seventy-three percent of students say they’d be at least somewhat interested in pursuing entrepreneurship, and 17 percent are very interested in working for themselves. Most are looking for a role that would generate passive income (67 percent), and one-third would pursue earning money as an influencer (33 percent).

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