As artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes the workforce, few roles face greater risk than the entry-level jobs that young professionals have long relied on as a springboard for launching their careers. A recent Stanford University study found that employment for workers ages 22 to 25 in the most AI-exposed fields has declined by 13% in just three years.
With students increasingly unable to gain the competencies and connections traditionally developed through entry-level jobs, it’s more critical than ever for them to build meaningful career skills while still in college.
The good news is that about 70% of all college students already work while enrolled. The bad news is that while those jobs are essential for paying tuition, housing, food, childcare and transportation, they are rarely aligned with students’ career goals.
Instead of building critical workplace skills, many students take on jobs solely to help them survive day-to-day. Worse yet, these jobs often directly interfere with both learning and career preparation.
Now more than ever, higher education leaders and policymakers must ensure that working through college no longer works against students.
For many working learners, that is exactly what’s happening today. Students who work while enrolled are 20% less likely to graduate than their peers who do not work.
Meanwhile, research from Strada shows that while first-generation students are significantly more likely to work 20 or more hours per week, they are far less likely to access internships. For continuing and first-generation learners, the reverse is true.
And it’s not just students struggling to find meaningful work on their own. Opportunities facilitated by institutions aren’t much better.
Consider Federal Work-Study programs, which employ hundreds of thousands of students every year. More than 90% of those positions are on-campus jobs that typically provide limited opportunities for career relevance or skill development.
Disconnected from long-term goals?
It doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, there is a broad consensus that work experience during college is valuable, with both students and employers viewing it as a key factor in post-graduation success. The challenge is that too many college jobs are disconnected from long-term career goals and are not flexible enough to accommodate academic demands.
Colleges can design work experiences that meet students’ immediate financial needs and build the skills, networks and confidence needed for life after graduation. Expanding access to paid internships—through deeper employer partnerships or stipends for unpaid roles—is one important step.
However, the problem demands more than a one-size-fits-all solution. Institutions will need to think creatively and intentionally about how student work aligns with their broader educational and institutional goals.
For example, institutions could require or incentivize through the RFP process vendors who dedicate a portion of large campus projects to meaningful student employment—turning everything from library construction to IT modernization into structured opportunities for paid, career-relevant work.
Some schools are already leading the way. Arizona State University, for example, employs thousands of students annually in on-campus jobs. But these roles aren’t just traditional administrative support. They include positions like graphic designers, videographers, research assistants and recreation center managers. Many are aligned with students’ academic and professional goals.
Beyond matching campus jobs to majors, the university takes it a step further by identifying essential soft skills—like teamwork, communication, and time management—and integrating those into student employment experiences. Students can earn a paycheck while building a portfolio of skills that matter in the workforce.
Providing a competitive advantage
Other institutions are rethinking employer partnerships. The University of Utah, for instance, has partnered with a national financial services company to connect hundreds of students with paid jobs that also include professional mentorship, hands-on experience and both hourly wages and tuition assistance.
These roles are structured to reinforce, rather than compete with, students’ educational progress, helping them stay enrolled, gain relevant work experience and reduce debt at the same time.
Arizona State University and the University of Texas at El Paso partner with Education at Work, where students are employed as tax specialists with Intuit and trained to assist individuals with preparing their tax returns. In addition to earning a paycheck and receiving tuition support, students gain resume-worthy experience in customer service, compliance and tax preparation.
It’s a model that not only meets students’ immediate financial needs but also builds career-relevant skills and opens doors to future employment in financial services.
As AI disrupts traditional entry-level roles, student employment should evolve from an extracurricular or financial necessity to a competitive advantage. Work should be treated not as a hindrance to education, but as an integral part of it, especially for learners who can least afford to treat college and career as separate tracks.
When student jobs can both help cover basic needs and lead to well-paying careers after graduation, they will become a powerful tool that allows students to build a more secure future. They become the new entry-level jobs, launching students into successful careers.
It’s time to reimagine student employment not as a barrier to learning, but as a catalyst for career readiness and long-term success.
