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For years, college has been sold as a ticket to adulthood: freedom, purpose, and a high-paying job on the other side. But a growing number of students are saying that what they got instead was an expensive disappointment. Some are even calling it a catfish.
That’s not just slang. According to a new College Rover study, 14% of college students and recent grads say they felt misled by the school they chose. That number jumps to 28% among liberal arts students. For many, the first semester was enough to realize the reality didn’t match the marketing.
The Campus in the Brochure vs. the One You Get
Most students who felt catfished said it didn’t take long to figure it out. Sixty-one percent realized something was off in the first few months. Whether it was the dorms, the food, the social life, or the professors, the real experience didn’t line up with what they saw on the website, in the emails, or during admissions pitches.
Some of this comes down to access. Nearly 2 in 5 students enrolled without ever seeing campus in person. When students can’t visit, they rely on promotional content and curated social media posts — the academic version of a Tinder profile with great lighting and a borrowed dog.
The consequences are real. Over half of those who felt misled (53%) said they’d pick a different college if they had to do it again. Forty percent now warn others not to apply to their school. That number jumps to 50% for private school students, who often carry more student debt and higher expectations.
Colleges Are Overselling—and Students Are Noticing
The College Rover data shows a pattern: the programs colleges promote most aggressively are often the ones students find most lacking. Academics, career support, and “teaching quality” all get top billing in marketing materials. But students say those are often the biggest letdowns.
It’s especially true in certain majors. Nearly a third of students in communications (32%) said they felt catfished. In cybersecurity, 30% felt misled. Even computer science, which schools often frame as the most cutting-edge path to success, had a 19% regret rate.
Part of the problem is how schools use social media. Only 59% of students said a college’s social feed reflected the real experience. The ones who felt least misled? Those who had direct conversations with alumni or took a physical campus tour. That tells us something: honesty comes from people, not posts.
The Emotional Cost of Feeling Misled
When you spend tens of thousands of dollars expecting one thing and get another, it’s not just frustrating. It’s personal. Students who feel catfished often deal with anxiety, disappointment, and a drop in motivation. Some change majors. Some consider transferring. Others just go through the motions, checking boxes to finish a degree they no longer believe in.
And this experience doesn’t stay on campus. It follows graduates into the workplace, where they may feel underprepared, over-leveraged, and unsure about what they’ve really gained. That sense of uncertainty can affect everything from job performance to mental health.
For men especially, there’s an added layer. Expectations around independence and success still run deep. Being the guy who “chose wrong” or who isn’t thriving post-college can feel like a failure, even when the system set him up to lose.
Debt Sticks, Even When the Degree Doesn’t Deliver
The regret isn’t just emotional. It’s financial. For students who feel misled, the price of a college education becomes harder to justify. The job they were promised doesn’t materialize. The network they expected never quite forms. The degree doesn’t open doors, and the loan payments still come due.
Student debt in the U.S. has topped $1.7 trillion, and more than half of borrowers say it’s delayed major milestones like buying a home or saving for retirement. Even those earning a decent salary struggle to find traction when the degree they earned doesn’t align with market needs or personal goals.
That financial pressure leads to real consequences in the workplace. Young professionals burdened by debt may job-hop for better pay, decline relocation opportunities, or take on side hustles that impact performance. Employers are starting to notice — and rethink how they support new grads entering the workforce.
Colleges Need a Reality Check
Today’s students are savvier than ever. They grew up with Yelp reviews, Reddit threads, and YouTube exposés. They know when they’re being sold to — and they’re increasingly skeptical of big promises from institutions that seem more focused on enrollment numbers than student outcomes.
If colleges want to earn trust, they need to get honest. That means pulling back the curtain on outcomes, sharing real stories from current students, and being transparent about what support systems actually exist. The era of the polished pamphlet is over. Students want substance.
Parents and Mentors Play a Role Too
A lot of students make college decisions without the full picture — not because they’re careless, but because they’re first-generation, under-advised, or overwhelmed by the process. That’s where adults come in.
Parents, teachers, and mentors can help by asking better questions. What’s the school’s graduation rate? How many students in this major get jobs within six months? What do current students say they wish they’d known?
It’s not about scaring students off. It’s about setting them up to succeed — and making sure they’re not walking into an experience that’s been airbrushed beyond recognition.
Where Employers Fit In
Employers aren’t off the hook. If college is producing graduates who feel underprepared, companies will feel the ripple effect. That might mean offering better onboarding. It might mean investing in continuing education. It could also mean reevaluating degree requirements altogether.
Some companies are already ahead of the curve, offering student loan repayment benefits or partnering with educational institutions to shape more relevant training. Others are taking a harder look at skills-based hiring, opening doors to candidates with nontraditional backgrounds who may bring more to the table than a diploma.
Rebuilding Trust Starts With Listening
The college catfish trend isn’t going away. If anything, it’s growing louder. More students are talking openly about their disappointment — and warning others not to fall for the same pitch. That’s a problem for schools, but it’s also an opportunity.
Institutions that listen, adapt, and speak truthfully will stand out. So will the workplaces that recognize how these early academic experiences shape their future workforce. At the end of the day, students aren’t asking for perfection. They’re asking for honesty.
And in today’s world, that’s the one thing they can’t afford to be catfished on.
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