As Gen Z and millennials watch the value of their degrees dramatically decline, one graduate in the UK has become the face of the crisis. The unnamed graduate now owes more than £314,356 ($420,000) in student loans—more than the cost of an average British home, far above the eye‑watering £231,000 ($308,000) record that topped headlines just two years ago, and a new record for the most personal student debt on record in the UK.
While the average graduate is leaving university with around £45,000 in debt, 10 graduates now have loans exceeding £267,000 ($356,000), according to new figures from the Student Loans Company, as reported by The Times.
For context, the average property value in Britain is similarly around £270,000 ($360,000).
While just a handful of students owe the government more money for their education than a family will pay for an entire house, they’re part of a much wider problem: One analysis last year found that more than 150,000 people across Britain now have loans exceeding £100,000 ($133,000).
That figure had jumped by a third in just 6 months, as interest compounds on balances that many may never fully repay.
Even cautious graduates with the smallest loans are now facing a perfect storm: living costs and compounding interest are outpacing wages, leaving many to navigate years of financial strain, delayed milestones, and growing doubt about whether their degree was worth it.
The global graduate crisis
This isn’t just a British problem. In the U.S., student debt has topped $1.7 trillion, while fresh graduates struggle to land stable jobs.
About a fifth of Gen Zers worldwide are classified as “NEETs” and are currently locked out of the job market. Across both America and Britain, millions of young people are not in education, employment, or training—despite expensive degrees.
One graduate with a maths degree spent more than a year applying to over 1,000 roles in the U.K. without landing a single offer, before moving his job hunt to Austria.
And as AI and automation replace many entry-level roles, the competition for what’s left is only getting fiercer. In the U.K. alone, more than 1.2 million applications were submitted for fewer than 17,000 graduate roles last year. Meanwhile, Americans report that the probability of finding a job right now has hit a record low.
They’re not imagining it: Goodwill places millions of job seekers across its 650-plus job centers, and it’s CEO Steve Preston says the charity is “preparing for a flux of unemployed young people” thanks to AI.
To make matters worse, not only are there fewer job opportunities available for fresh faced graduates, but CEOs are also increasingly saying they don’t even care about the expensive piece of paper they signed up for.
Now, 1 in 3 say their degrees weren’t financially worth it
The social contract is broken. Many young people did exactly what they were told: They went to university, signed on for steep student loans, and trusted that the debt would be a down payment on a stable, well‑paid career. Instead, they’re watching their high school peers who skipped university to take trade jobs get a better shot at a six-figure career.
Now, 1 in 3 graduates don’t think their degrees were financially worth it. In fact, the Nexford University report highlighted that many have been left drowning in debt decades after tossing their graduation caps into the air.
Some 14% admit they had to delay moving out of their parents’ house and starting a family because of hefty student loads. Meanwhile, a third are having to delay saving for their first home and even retirement.
It’s no wonder that nearly half of Gen Z and millennials conclude that university was a waste of money.
