[morgante]

Sorry, maybe my comment was unclear, but I didn't mean to imply that university students who don't pay their own way are "failures." While I might have been lucky enough to get substantial scholarships, that isn't the expectation/norm.

The shift isn't in expectations of university students, but in expectations of new graduates. That's what this article seems to be focusing on, and the group which is generally lampooned more broadly (graduates who are still living at home).

The term "emerging adult" does a lot of damage. Like you, I have a great role at a startup. But if our entire generation is lumped into a category of "emerging adults" who can barely hold down a job, our opportunities for advancement and appreciation are severely limited. People's experiences in their 20s are just too divergent (some people are still working temp gigs, while you're a VP) for any useful generations and labels like "emerging adults" only serve to discourage/diminish young achievement.

Suddenly we have to be 30 to considered an adult, even if we're entirely self-sufficient?