Internet universities have been available for several decades; correspondence degrees for almost a century. Sure, credentialing is a large part of students' choices to attend in-person. Yet the primary reason students attend universities in person is because most people learn best in-person, with personal interaction.

I would not be confident in underemployment figures for 2025 published this early in the year. The New York Federal Reserve has published underemployment rates from 2024 only a couple months ago [1]. In it, computer science underemployment is lower than other majors, even in the mathematical and natural sciences. Aggregated new graduate underemployment has been higher in previous decades than the current level. Underemployment is the right metric to consider because it captures people who accepted lower-skill jobs in order to support themselves.

1. https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/college-labor-market#--:...

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dylan604 4 days ago | parent [-]

> Yet the primary reason students attend universities in person is

the parties, the co-eds, and the start of life from outside the direct supervision of parental units. Let's be honest, all of this education stuff is secondary to that.

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linkregister 4 days ago | parent [-]

This seems like the conclusion someone would come to by watching 1980s college movies, not someone who looked at data. Community colleges, vocational schools, and commuter students represent a large proportion of college students, and are removed from the Animal House experience.

The primary goal for attending college, as stated by both students and parents, is for preparation for entrance into the workforce and adult life.

One can go to the engineering or computer science building in almost any U.S. or Canadian university and observe a student population that doesn't party on a regular basis.

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gottorf 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

> The primary goal for attending college, as stated by both students and parents, is for preparation for entrance into the workforce and adult life.

Let's observe revealed preferences, not stated ones.

> One can go to the engineering or computer science building in almost any U.S. or Canadian university and observe a student population that doesn't party on a regular basis.

This is a small fraction of the total college population.

Most people in college are only there because it's the default next step after high school. In fact, a lot of people in graduate school are only there because it's the default next step after a bachelor's degree.

	▲	linkregister 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		> Most people in college are only there because it's the default next step after high school. In fact, a lot of people in graduate school are only there because it's the default next step after a bachelor's degree. Exactly! Not because of parties!

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dylan604 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

This seems like the conclusion someone would come to by not having an honest conversation about the subject. It is entirely possible that one can attend classes while attending various parties on the weekend or even various events at night after classes. Your knee jerk reaction to my comment that everything is going to be Animal House, Porky's, or Revenge of the Nerds level of shenanigans says more about you.

	▲	linkregister 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		You still haven't presented any data or even rebutted my claims. Just the banal observation that students periodically attend social events coupled with a mild insult. There are better websites for your preferred type of social media experience.