42% of young Europeans have a college degree

A lot of young people in Europe graduate from university nowadays. In 2022, 42% of EU residents between 25-34 held a higher education credential (European Comission). Never in history of the region has this number been higher, and not everyone is happy about it.

42% of EU residents between 25-34 held a higher education credential in 2022

Many higher education institutions are grappling with large enrolment numbers, often to the detriment of both students and teaching staff. There are many examples of small-scale programs that used to allow for meaningful teacher-student interaction but were supersized into what feels more like an assembly line for mass producing graduates.

Furthermore, the labor market has not always been able to absorb all the degree holders. This results in people taking jobs for which a diploma is not required or pursuing additional degrees merely to get an edge over competition. Enter degree inflation.

Despite those negative effects, the European Union set out to push the percentage of young people with degrees even higher - to 45% by 2030 (European Commission).

45% of EU residents between 25-34 will hold a higher education credential in 2030

 Why? Because having lots of highly educated people is great. Or rather, having lots of highly capable people is great (Education is neither a guarantee of, nor the only path to capability. But it is a good proxy, and easier to measure). Generally speaking, highly educated people are wealthy, healthy, and civically engaged. They produce work with high added value, create jobs, and drive innovation (OECD, 2007; Cattaneo et al., 2020). In some regard, countries are like businesses, they want the most skilled people work for them.

There are challenges when a large share of a country’s population goes to and graduates from university. But of all challenges, those are the good ones. It means a lot of people have a chance to explore their talents, develop them, and become really good at something. And that is, in my opinion, something worth striving for.