I am a former governor, an education leader and a mother of recent university graduates. Gen Zlarmed me with their financial illiteracy

This disconnection leaves many students who are not prepared to manage their finances in the real world, just as the challenges are increasing. Financial education must be integrated into student experience as a central element of third cycle preparation. The knowledge gap is obvious in daily decisions that students and recent graduates make.

As a mother of three graduates from the university, I saw in the first hand how much academically successful students can feel overwhelmed when they are confronted with the complexities of the real world.

Although I have often highlighted the importance of early investment, in particular by taking advantage of the employer’s retirement contributions – my daughter still needed an introduction on how to give meaning to the dozens of options at her disposal once she entered the labor market.

It is not that she did not understand the figures; She obtained a diploma in mathematics. It was because she had never learned to apply this knowledge thanks to a financial planning objective. While many states now incorporate financial education in the schooling of kindergarten in the 12th year, the realities confronted with a 17 -year -old differ considerably from those facing the 22 -year -old health care franchises, credit scores and 401 (K) matches.

Gen Z’s uncertainty cloud

While students across the country graduated last month, many did it under a cloud of uncertainty. According to recent Handshake data, more than half of the 2025 class say they feel pessimistic about the start of their careers.

Like the 2008 and 2020 classes before them, this year graduates enter a turbulent labor market. The generative AI transforms entire industries, the hiring freezes are spreading in the sectors and many entry -level roles are automated or redefined.

But anxiety does not end in job prospects. Student loan payments have resumed, the Credit Card debt climbs and the prices of basic necessities continue to soar. Not only should colleges double the career services, but they must also prepare students for the financial pressures that await them after obtaining the diploma.

In addition to teaching students how to interview and network, they also need a practical and significant experience that links their education to the world of work, as well as practical personal finance skills to correspond. Students must leave college not only ready to earn a good salary, but equipped to manage it judiciously, build long -term stability and make informed decisions on their future.

Recent data for Jobs for the Future, Walton Family Foundation and Gallup highlights the extent of this imprecision. Students of generation Z and their parents report knowing relatively little about the most common life and career paths. About 40% of parents declare that they do not know little about the types of jobs that are the most requested and the wages and associated benefits. People, in the meantime, said even less than their parents.

Students and their families do not know what careers are in demand and what these jobs pay. In this case, it is not surprising that they are also, if not more, uncertain to manage the financial consequences that follow.

What colleges can do about this

This is why colleges should start to deal with career preparation and financial confidence as two sides of the same medal. Strengthening one without the other leaves unbalanced students at the exact moment, they should be held alone.

An example is the time for financing for intuits, an initiative designed to help fill this gap. Throughout an immersive one hour simulation, students assume the role of a person who sails in the financial decisions of the real world, the balance of income, expenses, savings, debt and long -term objectives. (Disclosure: my organization, education at work, is associated separately with intuits to put students in part -time roles in the affairs of Turbotax of intuits.)

It is not a conference or a worksheet, but an interactive learning experience that reflects complexity and compromises graduates will soon be confronted. The objective is to teach students how to budget while strengthening confidence in the financial choices that line up with their aspirations.

Colleges could take a similar track by designing short courses or integrated modules that simulate post-diploma financial life. They must be closely integrated into existing majors or senior programs. For students who work as tax specialists for intuits in work education, their training educates them to help people prepare their income tax returns. There are many advantages. They earn wages, acquire curriculum vitae with a work value, receive assistance in tuition fees and learn the difference between a tax credit and a deduction.

Graduates are now faced with challenges that require more than a diploma. They need clarity, confidence and competence – both in the workplace and their wallets. Colleges can no longer treat students in the management of money as elective students or assume that students will understand it along the way. A generation of learners falls into adulthood in the midst of an intense economic, technological and social flow. They need an education that prepares them for all of this.

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