Why Your Degree Is WORTHLESS Today Than 10 Years Ago

Once, earning a college degree in India meant entering the middle class. It meant security, respect, and the ability to earn a decent living. In 2013, a fresh graduate could land a ₹25,000 job, afford rent in a smaller city, and start building a future.

Fast forward to 2025, and the situation has drastically changed. Despite being more educated and skilled on paper, young Indians are working harder than ever — often for free, or for pay that barely covers lunch and commute. Degrees are multiplying, yet opportunities are shrinking.

The question is no longer “What did you study?”, but “What can you actually do?” And worse, employers want experience — but won’t give you the chance to earn it. Here’s why your degree has lost its value. Despite India’s growing economy, the unemployment rate among graduates is dangerously high. According to the Economic Survey 2023–24, only 51.25% of graduates are considered employable, revealing a massive gap between education and job readiness.

The broader picture is troubling too:

• As of May 2025, India’s overall unemployment rate has risen to 5.6%.
• Among engineering graduates — once seen as the surest bet — 83% are still without job offers, pointing to a fundamental disconnect between what colleges teach and what industries need.

This is not a lack of ambition or effort — it's a failure of systems meant to guide young people into the workforce. In 2013, a ₹25,000 monthly salary was respectable. Today, in 2025, that same figure is barely survival-level in urban India.

• Rents in metro cities like Bengaluru or Mumbai can range from ₹15,000 to ₹20,000 for a basic single room.
• Add to that food, transport, electricity, and internet, and even a ₹30,000 salary doesn’t stretch far.
• Real wages have stagnated, while inflation continues to rise, especially in essentials like fuel, food, and housing.

So even when freshers do find jobs, the return on their education investment is shrinking. Many find themselves qualified but broke. Today, experience is everything — but how do you get experience without being given a chance?

This is the loop Indian youth are trapped in:

• Employers refuse to hire without experience.
• To get experience, you need internships.
• But 8 out of 10 internships are unpaid, according to a 2023 report by AICTE and Internshala.
• Even paid interns earn stipends as low as ₹3,000–₹5,000 per month, despite working full-time hours.

In 2025, there is some rise in average stipends — now around ₹9,500/month — and high-end internships offer up to ₹1.2 lakh. But these are exceptions. For most, internships are a scam disguised as opportunity — free labor extracted from desperate students in the name of “exposure.”

Worse, many companies use interns as replacements for entry-level staff, contributing to job scarcity at the bottom. This paradox is now the number one frustration among graduates. Job postings demand “2-3 years of experience” even for entry-level roles.

But here's the question no one answers:
How is a 22-year-old graduate supposed to gain experience if every job requires it?

This culture creates a system where:

• Graduates are forced into multiple unpaid internships.
• Even after 2–3 years of internships and gig work, they’re still told they “lack experience.”
• Employers rarely invest in training anymore — they want job-ready workers from Day 1.

It’s a toxic cycle, and it’s producing a generation of burnt-out, underpaid, and disillusioned professionals. In 2024, a TeamLease report found that 47% of Indian graduates are unemployable in modern industries due to lack of practical skills, communication ability, and digital literacy.

The blame often falls on students — but is that fair?

• Most colleges still follow outdated syllabi, unchanged for years.
• Little to no focus on real-world training, internships, soft skills, or problem-solving.
• Students memorize to pass exams — not to solve real problems or work in teams.

The result: Degrees that look good on paper but don’t match what the market needs. The Indian higher education system is now a multi-billion-dollar industry:

• Each year, India produces 15 lakh engineers, 5 lakh MBAs, and over 1 crore graduates in total.
• Private colleges charge ₹5–10 lakh in fees, luring students with glossy brochures and “100% placement” claims.
• But once students graduate, they’re left on their own, entering a saturated market with little direction or support.

For many, college is no longer a gateway to opportunity — it’s just a very expensive gamble. There’s some good news: hiring intent for freshers has improved. In the second half of 2024, 72% of companies surveyed said they plan to hire entry-level talent — up from 68% earlier.
But again, this applies only to skilled candidates. Companies want:

• Digital fluency
• Problem-solving ability
• Industry-specific skills (like coding, analytics, UX, content creation)

A generic degree with no experience or practical exposure just doesn’t cut it anymore. India’s economy has grown. The stock market is at record highs. The number of billionaires has increased. Yet:

• Graduate wages remain stagnant.
• Cost of living has exploded.
• Inequality has deepened.

Economic growth has not translated into better outcomes for young people. Instead, the gap between what they were promised and what they get is growing — both financially and emotionally. In 2025, a college degree in India still costs a lot — but delivers far too little. The system is rigged with contradictions:

• Employers want experience, but won’t offer jobs.
• Students work unpaid jobs to gain experience, but still aren’t hired.
• Colleges charge lakhs but don’t build skills.
• The economy grows, but graduates stay stuck.

It’s not that today’s youth aren’t working hard. It’s that they’re working inside a broken machine.

What needs to change?

• Colleges must be held accountable for outcomes, not admissions.
• Companies must stop exploiting interns and train freshers again.
• The government must push for wage reforms, stronger job creation, and internship regulation.

Until then, degrees will remain an expensive illusion. And young Indians will continue to pay — not just in money, but in years of wasted potential.