Fewer Young Men Are Going to College — Here's a State-By-State Breakdown of Where They'll Have the Best and Worst Job Prospects Some top companies have gotten rid of college degree requirements altogether.
By Amanda Breen Edited by Jessica Thomas
Key Takeaways
- Fewer young men — about one million — have chosen to pursue college education over the past decade.
- A college degree isn't necessarily a requirement for a great entry-level job — but it can help, depending on where you live.
Fifty-six percent of Americans think earning a four-year college degree isn't worth it, according to a poll from The Wall Street Journal and NORC at the University of Chicago.
That belief has translated to lower college enrollment among young Americans over the past decade, mostly due to fewer young men opting for higher education: about one million of them, per Pew Research Center.
Although you don't necessarily need to graduate from college to land a great entry-level job — and some top companies, including Accenture, IBM and Dell Technologies, have done away with degree requirements altogether — it could put you at a disadvantage depending on who's hiring for the position.
Eight in 10 employers agreed either strongly or somewhat that higher education is helping graduates succeed in the workforce and that getting a college degree is worth it, even given the costs of time and money, according to a report from the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U).
However, where a non-degreed job applicant is looking to get hired can also factor into their odds of snagging a role.
A new study from financial services company CashNetUSA examined the most and least competitive states to find a job without a degree based on an analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau and job listings on Indeed to determine the ratio of local residents with a high school education to available entry-level job positions.
Related: Do Children Need to Go Out of State for the Real College Experience?
The research found that candidates without a college degree may have the best chances in Maine, where there are just over three non-degreed applicants for each entry-level role, while they might have the most difficulties in New York and California, where there are more than 21 and 13 non-degreed applicants for each entry-level position, respectively.
Check out CashNetUSA's infographic below for the state-by-state breakdown of job prospects for non-degree holders:
Image Credit: Courtesy of CashNetUSA
