It is generally understood in the industry that around half of universities are in significant debt / financial distress (started prior to Covid // the demographic peak // recent DoE cuts). Graduate underemployment is also quite high due to a lack of alignment (or perhaps slow alignment) of degree programs to career outcomes

https://www.philadelphiafed.org/-/media/frbp/assets/working-...

https://www.stlouisfed.org/open-vault/2025/aug/jobs-degrees-...

Ideas for solutions here:

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED604299.pdf