The big unknown of the bachelor’s degree: Italy third to last in college graduation rate

Brussels – College degrees are not for Italians, who do not want and do not know tertiary education. The country has the third-lowest rate of academic degree holders among the 25-34 age group in the European Union. At the end of 2023, it stood at 30.6 percent, Eurostat notes. Only Hungary (29.4 percent) and Romania (22.5 percent) have lower rates of graduates than Italy. The European Statistical Institute labels these three countries as the worst performers.

The country’s system is not keeping up. In the context of significant economic-productive changes that require more and new skills, Italy is in danger of falling behind in terms of growth and productivity. Looking at the data, Italy appears to be lagging along the path that sets the goal of having 45 percent of the under-35s graduate by 2030. A goal that 13 member states (Ireland, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, France, Belgium, Denmark, Malta, Poland, and Latvia) have already met.

In addition to this group of countries, five member states are not far from the tertiary education target. They are Greece (44.5 percent of under-35 graduates), Estonia and Austria (43.5 percent), Portugal (40.9 percent), and Slovenia (40.7 percent).

The twin green and digital transition is in danger of becoming a conundrum, due to a shortage of qualified young people and training left to companies because of degrees never earned. But the problem for the country does not end there: in addition to the low number of college graduates, Italy has to deal with the gender issue. Among the few holders of tertiary education degrees, women outnumber men. It implies having to enact policies that enable female graduates to balance work and private life in a country where we struggle to have children, with some starting late and others not starting at all.