
Millennials are exceptional. Our generation is responsible for the upswing of social media, Uber and countless other service apps. We’re at the height, or approaching it, of a new technology based world that promises opportunities.
But with that comes competing with each other (literally millions of us) to get a small sliver of the pie. Example: there were 40,000 applicants for a Google summer internship with 1,500 openings. That is 3.75% of those 40,000 will get that opportunity.
Companies have the upper hand of getting the best and brightest at little pay, while the other 96.75% contemplate what our degrees are actually worth.
Some of us picked a lucrative major (accounting, finance, business administration etc.) and still virtually start from the bottom doing sales, or temp jobs at $11/hr, slightly more than a supervisor at McDonald’s.
Some chose more liberal majors like English or Art and end up doing nothing that relates to their field when coming out of college, because bills need to be paid and urgency is of the essence
Some of us chose majors in medicinal and psychological fields. Chances are no one told them that after you acquire tens of thousands of dollars in undergraduate debt, that to even be considered for a well paying job in those fields, that you will need a graduate degree or certification, which (shocker) will probably put you more in debt unless you are a part of the “lucky” few to have grants.
In case you’re wondering why the word “lucky” is in quotation marks, it’s because to be applicable for most grants, you or your family must be in an unfortunate situation in which the government will attempt to offset that financial stress. Now this is not to say that there aren’t academic grants and scholarships available for students regardless of your at home situation. However there is a large number of Millennials where their parents make just enough to not be considered underprivileged, and whose grades are shy of the top 1% to be awarded financial assistance.
And the “lucky” ones aren’t always so lucky. There are students who have the majority of their tuition and residence fees covered, work at least 2 jobs while being a full time student and still graduate with over $20k in debt. Some might ask, how is that even possible? Well let’s take a quick look at the math.
§ If a student gets 75% of a 40k annual tuition covered through government assistance, then the student is still responsible for $10k a year. Multiply that by a typical 4 year degree, and add in the annual cost of books, board, technology fees etc. This student will graduate with at least $40k in student loan debt, even if their multiple jobs cover the cost of books and increasing c