From financial planning to automotive maintenance, recent high school and college graduates reflect on the skills they need to succeed in life

SAN FRANCISCO, March 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Global learning platform Quizlet today released results from a survey exploring how well students feel their education prepared them for the real world and the classes they wish were offered during their school years. The survey examined recent high school and college graduates’ confidence and competency in basic life skills like personal financial and insurance planning, auto maintenance, cooking and more.

The survey’s key findings included:

• Financial and life skills uncertainty: One-third of recent graduates don’t believe they have or are unsure they have the financial and core life skills needed to succeed in the world.
• Appetite for non-academic courses: 68% of recent graduates think non-academically focused courses in formal education settings would better prepare students for the real world. This belief is especially strong among respondents that attended public schools and colleges (71%).
• Automotive maintenance skills are stalled: More than any other skill, nearly one in five recent graduates say they are the least confident in handling automotive maintenance, such as changing a tire or their oil. This is followed by financial planning (17%), insurance (12%), minor home repairs (11%), cooking (11%), cleaning (8%) and organizing (8%).
• Financial planning woes: A majority (79%) of recent graduates said financial planning overwhelms them the most – and of all the life skills highlighted in the survey, 29% of respondents said it negatively impacts their mental health.
• Social media as a learning tool: Social media is helping fill the skills gap, with 33% of recent graduates turning to it for life skills knowledge.

Prioritizing financial wellbeing
While recent graduates claimed to feel the least confident in automotive maintenance, the majority (37%) agreed that financial planning makes them feel the most overwhelmed. Despite this sentiment, 69% of recent graduates believe it’s very or extremely important for people to be financially literate. Also, 55% of recent graduates claimed to track their expenses to stay within a predetermined budget, showing their lack of confidence isn’t for want of trying.

Recent graduates also revealed a lack of financial confidence lies within long-term investing and planning.

• A majority (56%) of recent graduates responded as having a lack of confidence in their ability to budget and manage long-term finances, such as a 401K or credit score, with 60% saying the same about their ability to invest money.
• Gen Z females reported insurance (84%) to be the most overwhelming aspect of long-term investing and planning. Financial planning (83%) and automotive insurance (83%) tied for second.
• Gen Z males, on the other hand, felt most overwhelmed by financial planning (85%), followed by organizing (81%) and insurance (81%).

Aspects of financial planning that cause recent graduates the most stress include tax planning, saving for emergencies, debt management and managing credit.

Learning for the real world 
Recent graduates identified financial planning (45%), time management (38%) and emotional well-being/management (37%) as the top three non-academic courses they believe would have helped them succeed even more had they been taught them in school. The survey’s Gen Z to Boomer respondents agreed, also citing financial literacy as the top non-academic course they would have benefited from the most had it been offered in their school years.

Across the generations surveyed, skills like critical thinking and communication were also identified as courses that respondents believed would have helped them succeed had they been taught them in school. Other skills surveyed included emotional well-being, time management, cooking, cleaning and organizing.

“Recent graduates face a tough job market, high cost of living and inflation, so it’s no surprise that students want essential life skills, like financial literacy, covered in their formal education. These findings highlight that students are hungry for information that can help them feel more ready for the real world. Increased attention to these skill gaps should also improve mental well-being and confidence in the process,” said Caroline Walthall, Director of Product and Lifecycle Marketing at Quizlet.

Taking matters into their own hands 
Students aren’t just talking – they are taking actions to supplement their knowledge of basic life skills. More than half of recent graduate respondents said they learned basic life skills online, with 35% saying they learned through a search engine and 33% gravitating to social media. Most said they relied on family members and friends (72%) or through trial and error (68%).

In thinking about life after graduation, each generation showed a strong desire to pass along their knowledge to younger groups. More than half of recent graduates said their own life experiences inspired them to proactively teach the next generation core life and financial skills (53%). Most generations agreed with this, particularly the Silent Generation of which 52% responded that their own life experience has motivated them to teach the next generation these essential skills.

“I think everyone would agree that giving young people the tools and knowledge to confidently take on the world is in all of our best interests. My friends and I talk about the responsibilities that come with ‘adulting’ all the time. To create an even playing field, there should be more opportunities in school for future generations to expand their knowledge set with the skills they need to be successful in the real world,” said Angel Davis, a fourth-year student at NYU and social media assistant for Quizlet.

Methodology 
Allison Performance Intelligence team surveyed 2,004 U.S. consumers aged 18 and older. This audience was made up of 500 individuals who indicated that they had graduated high school in the past two years, 500 who indicated they graduated college in the past two years and 1,002 of the broader U.S. general population, who were not required to meet any education stipulations. The survey was conducted using the Forsta HX platform and the panel was procured through RepData. Fielding occurred in January 2024.

About Quizlet
Quizlet is a global learning platform that provides engaging study tools to help people practice and master whatever they are learning. Every month, over 60 million students, teachers and everyday people use Quizlet to study any subject imaginable for school, work or as part of their personal interests — including 2 in 3 high school students and 1 in 2 college students in the US. Combining cognitive science and artificial intelligence, Quizlet guides students through adaptive study activities to confidently reach their learning goals. The company offers a combination of free and paid subscriptions for both students and teachers that enable further customization. Quizlet is headquartered in San Francisco, California and is backed by General Atlantic, Union Square Ventures, Altos Ventures, Icon Ventures, Owl Ventures, and Costanoa Ventures. For more information, please visit www.quizlet.com.

CONTACT: Niki Frankfort, niki.frankfort@quizlet.com

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SOURCE Quizlet