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It's gotten pretty bleak. Even white collar wages are largely stagnant, yet the costs to get those white collar jobs are insane. In 2006, an MBA from HBS had

It's gotten pretty bleak. Even white collar wages are largely stagnant, yet the costs to get those white collar jobs are insane. In 2006, an MBA from HBS had a total tuition of around $75,000 [0] and net you a $140,000 TC job [1]. In 2024, an MBA from HBS has a total tuition of $170,000 [2] and net you a $200,000 TC job [3]. If this is the situation at Harvard Business School, imagine at other programs or universities who don't have as many doors open. Hell, I haven't even factored housing in the tuition numbers above. We've entered the same trap Germany and France was in during the 2010s and Japan in the 2000s. For a lot of young people, there's no point even trying if you are still stuck. Either you spend inordinate amounts of money to tread water and attempt to start a career, or you don't and just remain a NEET. Either way you're unable to hit traditional milestones until you late 30s if you're able to somehow get back on track. [0] - https://www.hbs.edu/about/annualreport/Documents/2006/HBS-Annual-2006-Full-Report.pdf https://www.hbs.edu/about/annualreport/Documents/2006/HBS-An... [1] - https://www.alumni.hbs.edu/stories/Pages/story-bulletin.aspx?num=420 https://www.alumni.hbs.edu/stories/Pages/story-bulletin.aspx... [2] - https://www.hbs.edu/mba/financial-aid/tuition-assistance/Pages/cost-of-attendance.aspx https://www.hbs.edu/mba/financial-aid/tuition-assistance/Pag... [3] - https://www.hbs.edu/recruiting/employment-data/Pages/default.aspx https://www.hbs.edu/recruiting/employment-data/Pages/default...

Loughla 2y ago
I have worked with colleges for most of my professional career. Kids these days are bleak. If they hit any obstacle, they just quit. And most administrators don't understand it/want to blame this on 'today's generation' or whatever else nonsense. They've been fed doom and gloom from politics, society, and climate science their entire lives. They can physically see that their lives aren't as easy as their parents and grandparents at the same age through photographs and home movies. I get it. It's hard to be optimistic as a kid; parents have to try harder than ever to keep them pointed in a positive direction.
- alephnerd 2y ago
  MBA is early/mid career. You tend to be in your late 20s or early 30s and have 4-7 years of full time professional experience before starting one, and have hit a professional roadblock that requires to get one in order to be promoted (Sr/Staff Engineer to Sr PM, VC Analyst to VC Associate, IB Analyst to IB Associate, Accountant Manager to Director). Which is my point. Plenty of white collar careers with significant upward monetary and social potential are gatekept via higher education, and those fields without that gatekeeping are extremely commodified. It's the same story of medicine, law, accounting, actuary, academia, and even engineering to a certain extent. Either you spend an inordinate amount just to barely tread water in your career, or spend little-to-no money and drown with no career. Forget about even buying a house or starting a family without parental support because you have a down payment's worth of loans to pay off. Edit: I re-read your post and I kinda agree. The era of being able to hoof it on your own is largely over, and parental help is increasingly critical. This will require a massive culture change in America (eg. normalize living with parents after college like back in Asia, de-emphasize certain "milestones" like marriage and kids by late 20s, etc).
- hdjjhhvvhga 2y ago
  > I get it. It's hard to be optimistic as a kid; parents have to try harder than ever to keep them pointed in a positive direction. So true. The amount of suicides among young people is staggering. It is like they globally don't see any aim in their lives. I thought about this for a long time and believe the reasons are quite complex but definitely also include the points you mentioned.
  - bloomca 2y ago
    > It is like they globally don't see any aim in their lives Why would they? In most of the western world, there is pretty much no positive outlook at like anything going forward. Many things are worse than before, and are only projected to continue in that trend. I am not really sure what is the answer, but the current system is just not working for the young at all.

Loughla 2y ago

I have worked with colleges for most of my professional career. Kids these days are bleak. If they hit any obstacle, they just quit. And most administrators don't understand it/want to blame this on 'today's generation' or whatever else nonsense. They've been fed doom and gloom from politics, society, and climate science their entire lives. They can physically see that their lives aren't as easy as their parents and grandparents at the same age through photographs and home movies. I get it. It's hard to be optimistic as a kid; parents have to try harder than ever to keep them pointed in a positive direction.

alephnerd 2y ago
MBA is early/mid career. You tend to be in your late 20s or early 30s and have 4-7 years of full time professional experience before starting one, and have hit a professional roadblock that requires to get one in order to be promoted (Sr/Staff Engineer to Sr PM, VC Analyst to VC Associate, IB Analyst to IB Associate, Accountant Manager to Director). Which is my point. Plenty of white collar careers with significant upward monetary and social potential are gatekept via higher education, and those fields without that gatekeeping are extremely commodified. It's the same story of medicine, law, accounting, actuary, academia, and even engineering to a certain extent. Either you spend an inordinate amount just to barely tread water in your career, or spend little-to-no money and drown with no career. Forget about even buying a house or starting a family without parental support because you have a down payment's worth of loans to pay off. Edit: I re-read your post and I kinda agree. The era of being able to hoof it on your own is largely over, and parental help is increasingly critical. This will require a massive culture change in America (eg. normalize living with parents after college like back in Asia, de-emphasize certain "milestones" like marriage and kids by late 20s, etc).
hdjjhhvvhga 2y ago
> I get it. It's hard to be optimistic as a kid; parents have to try harder than ever to keep them pointed in a positive direction. So true. The amount of suicides among young people is staggering. It is like they globally don't see any aim in their lives. I thought about this for a long time and believe the reasons are quite complex but definitely also include the points you mentioned.
- bloomca 2y ago
  > It is like they globally don't see any aim in their lives Why would they? In most of the western world, there is pretty much no positive outlook at like anything going forward. Many things are worse than before, and are only projected to continue in that trend. I am not really sure what is the answer, but the current system is just not working for the young at all.