Despite mounting public skepticism about the value of a college degree, the data is still clear: Over all, college graduates have much higher earning potential than their peers without a bachelor's degree. But the limits of those boosted earnings are often decided by a student's major. American workers with a four-year degree ages 25 to 54 earn a median annual salary of $81,000-70 percent more than their peers with a high school diploma alone.
Today's college graduates are facing one of the most hostile job markets in recent memory, especially when it comes to entry-level roles. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported a 9.3% unemployment rate for bachelor's degree holders aged 20 to 24 in August 2025, almost double the average unemployment rate for all workers. In the U.S., entry-level hiring is down 23% compared to March 2020, which is more than the 18% decline in overall hiring, according to research from LinkedIn.
Entry-level roles are drying up because of AI automation and budget cuts. This is particularly true for marketing, where AI's capacity to do grunt work has organizations considering eliminating entry-level positions. However, doing that puts the future talent pipeline at risk.