Myths about millennials are just that
“Millennials are lazy.”
“If millennials would get off of their parents’ couch and get a job, they would be able to afford college.”
“College isn’t difficult, millennials are just complainers.”
These are some common things that older generations, even our parents, like to tell millennials. As a millennial, I would like to dispute the shaky claims made by some of our elders.
First of all, it’s a fact that college prices are climbing; tuition rates are rising faster than they ever have before.
According to a CNBC article, in the 1970s and 1980s, college costs rose slower than the prices of other goods and services. In the 1990s, the price of a degree began rising faster than the cost of other goods and services. For instance, between 1994 and 2000, tuition costs increased by 10 percent. Between 2010 and 2016, tuition costs increased by 18 percent. An 8 percent difference between 12 years is enough to be considered significant.
Not only is college more expensive, it’s more challenging to get into. In 2016, research involving tuition costs at elite schools concluded that admission rates are declining. The steepest decline occurred at Cornell University, where the acceptance rate fell
17 percent.
Though not all colleges admission rates are declining, the Ivy Leagues are, making it easier for other colleges to follow suit. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing that difficulty levels are increasing, as it could be argued that it creates more intelligent and
efficient graduates.
The claim that getting a job is enough to pay your way through college is simply untrue. Though USD is one of the most cost-effective schools in the region – it’s ranked No. 30 on top 50 colleges with the cheapest out-of-state tuition – tuition is still far too high to pay off completely by holding a part-time job.
It may have been possible to pay one’s tuition without any assistance from family 15 years ago, but this isn’t possible today. According to one Atlantic article, student would have to work around 900 hours to pay for a year of public university tuition in the United States. Though it’s a blessing to be able to attend USD, it’s quite disheartening to know that the minute I receive my bachelor’s degree, I will already be tens of thousands of dollars in debt.
In addition, millennials live with their parents at older ages because the cost of college and housing is only rising as the years go by. In fact, some believe that paying for college is now harder than paying off
a home.
Just because times are different today, and my idea of unwinding is scrolling through Twitter, watching Netflix and sending photos to my friends on Snapchat, doesn’t mean that we as millennials are less intelligent, less hardworking or less successful than previous generations.
Give your millennial daughters, sons, grandsons and granddaughters a break. Sure, we’re high functioning internet addicts, but what really matters is that we’re getting an education while still believing that the inflated prices are worth it.
