Higher education is going through an identity crisis. Repeated attacks from the Trump administration, the rise of artificial intelligence and budget shortfalls have put top universities on the defensive as public sentiment about the value of a college degree sours. But a new trend in corporate hiring suggests elite colleges won’t be losing their edge anytime soon.
A 2025 survey of more than 150 companies found that more than a quarter, 26 percent, were recruiting from a short selection of schools, up from 17 percent doing the same in 2022, according to recruiting intelligence firm Veris Insights, which conducted the research.
Even the majority of companies surveyed that did not recruit from a short list of universities said they focused on “target schools,” also accepting applications from a list of other schools. That means applicants from prestigious universities that are located near a company’s headquarters are usually prioritized, according to Chelsea Schein, Veris’ vice president of research strategy. Wall Street Journal reported.
“Employers increasingly look to degree and GPA in a hiring decision,” Schein said wealth. “There is a growing recognition among employers that they can be more targeted in their approach.”
“Talent is everywhere” hiring seems to have fallen out of favor for a number of reasons, according to entry-level recruiters. For one, it’s expensive. It takes large sums of money to set up meetings with candidates and bring recruiters to campuses across the country. In addition, AI-generated CVs have made many applications look identical, prompting some recruiters to fall back on university prestige to distinguish candidates. And for many companies, DEI is no longer a priority.
This hiring trend is reminiscent of the pre-pandemic days and the tight labor market of 2018 and 2019, when firms prioritized in-person interaction, according to entry-level recruiting researchers. Today, most firms recruit from about 30 colleges at 4,000 universities, looking first at elite colleges and then at schools near a company’s corporate offices as companies look to recruit candidates for in-person work.
This trend is evident among top firms. Once accustomed to multiple swings through 45 to 50 schools a year, GE Appliances has resigned itself to four or five events per semester at just 15 institutions.
Financial technology firm Bill says it is focusing on recruiting from colleges near its corporate offices in San Jose, Calif., and Draper, Utah.
McKinsey, the prominent New York consulting firm, is “re-committing to a high-touch process,” hosting in-person events with alumni working at the company at a short list of 20 universities, according to McKinsey recruiting partner Blair Ciesil. The announcement comes after the firm removed language from its careers page that read: “We hire people, not degrees.”
The tide may be turning for higher education
This trend may provide a much-needed competitive advantage to elite institutions as sentiment toward higher education sours. In 2025, only 35% of US adults surveyed said a college education was “very important.” That’s down from 70 percent in 2013. And only a third of American voters said a four-year degree was worth the cost over the same period of time, according to NBC.
However, higher education enrollments are actually increasing. Despite skepticism about the value proposition of a four-year degree, institutions awarded nearly 2.2 million bachelor’s degrees in 2025, up from 1.6 million in 2010.
Some recruiters say college isn’t worth it, like the CEO of recruitment agency Randstad, Sander van ‘t Noordende, who says wealth he believes people need to “reflect on — taking out a student loan, going to college and being trained or educated for a rapidly changing profession — whether that’s still the right path.” This comes as nearly half of Millennials and Gen Zers say college was a waste of money, with Gen Z men feeling the most impact: Their unemployment rate now matches that of Gen Z men without degrees.
For some, the payoff might be worth it though. College degree holders still earn more on average than those with only a high school diploma. The college wage premium, or the difference in earnings between workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher and workers without a college degree, is about 90 percent, according to the Cleveland Federal Reserve. However, this number has increased over the past decade, after rising steadily from the 1980s to the mid-2010s.
“I would rather be a student with a degree than no degree,” Schein said.
But even for students who enroll at the nearly 4,000 accredited institutions across the country, a bachelor’s degree may not be enough to attract the attention of some of the country’s top recruiters — unless it comes from an elite institution.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com