#graduates

#graduates

Departures among those aged 20-29 reached 130,000-140,000 in June 2025, significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels of around 92,000-95,000 in 2018, indicating a clear shift towards earlier migration.

MIT ranked No. 1 for best graduate engineering program in the 2026 rankings, leading the country and excelling in six engineering specialties, including computer and electrical engineering.

"Kids show up to school when they feel connected to adults, peers and are engaged in something meaningful," said Hedy Chang, chief executive of Attendance Works.

David Robinson, who completed a one-year postgraduate diploma in adult nursing, was informed that his course was ineligible for maintenance loans, requiring repayment at an accelerated rate.

Social anxiety and depression had other plans, leaving me in an ugly cycle of self-isolation and rumination. Terrified of rejection, I'd meet someone interesting during one of my English lectures and invite them out for frozen yogurt in my head.

I was like, 'What do you mean, I can actually work and take some classes?' I didn't even know there were apprenticeships out there, because I thought it was something of the past. That was my dream-to go into some field of engineering-so it was great to find something like AT&T, which has an apprenticeship program where you can jump into it, which later becomes software engineering.

The findings, which are based on surveys of 150 employers from across the country, show that employers expect to raise starting salaries anywhere from 3.1 percent for engineering majors to 6.9 percent for computer science majors compared to last year's projections. In addition to computer science and engineering, average salaries are expected to increase for graduates with bachelor's degrees in mathematics and statistics, business, agriculture and natural resources, and communications.

Young people are "experiencing higher education differently, and that is shaping much of what parents are saying," said Lammers. "[Parents] are reacting to the questions their children are asking and trying to find the best way to help them navigate the next steps."

It can be scary to borrow large student loans to finance an expensive college degree. There is a market failure, however, every time a student does not attend their preferred college, study their preferred major, or pursue their preferred career because they are afraid of student loans. Students should be free to pursue their passions - not forced into second-best choices because of the cost of the degree or the prospect of a lower income in the future.