Graduated higher education increases the chances of employment for most Romanians, international statistics show, but many of them remain dissatisfied with the salaries they receive, remembering the efforts made in college and the uninspired choices of the past.
Despite the growing importance given to higher education in employment, Romania ranks last in the European Union in terms of young people with higher education, according to the latest reports published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Romania, a country behind in the EU in terms of higher education
The Eurostat report from 2025 shows that less than a quarter of Romanians between the ages of 25 and 34, i.e. 23.2 percent, attended higher education. The highest percentages are recorded in Ireland, Luxembourg and Cyprus, where more than 60 percent of young people have completed some form of higher education.
“The completion of university studies is becoming increasingly important in the European Union, against the background of the growing demand for highly qualified specialists on the labor market. Higher education plays an essential role in society, contributing to stimulating innovation, increasing economic development and improving the general standard of living of the population”, shows Eurostat.
In recent years, between 500,000 and 600,000 Romanians have been enrolled in state or private universities. Another report published by the National Institute of Statistics, in 2025, shows that in the academic year 2024–2025, 568,600 students were enrolled in higher education, of which 55.4 percent were female students, up 4 percent from the previous year.
More and more Romanian women have higher education
In higher education, the number of degree graduates was 127,100 students. Female students represented 59 percent of the total number of graduates with a degree.
“Graduates with a higher education diploma came predominantly from the faculties of business, administration and law (25.6 percent), engineering, processing and construction (17.1 percent), respectively health and social assistance (12.3 percent)”transmitted the INS.
Also in 2025, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which includes 38 countries with developed or emerging economies, published a detailed analysis entitled “Education at a Glance”, about the educational systems and the level of education of the population in several countries.
In the report on Romania’s situation, the OECD shows that, on average, in the organization’s countries, 42 percent of people aged between 25 and 64 have higher education, compared to only 19 percent in Romania.
“Romania is one of the six member or partner countries of the OECD in which the share of people with higher education decreased in the same period: the proportion of young people with a university degree dropped from 26 percent in 2019 to 23 percent in 2024“, says the OECD report.
Romania, on the other hand, manages to attract an increasing number of foreign students, their share increasing from 5.4 percent in 2018 to 6.7 percent in 2023.
Nine out of ten university graduates find work
At the OECD level, the two most popular fields of study are science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and business, administration and law, each accounting for 23 per cent of graduates from bachelor’s or equivalent programmes.
These are followed by the field of arts, humanities, social sciences, journalism and information, with 22 percent of graduates. In Romania, 31 percent of bachelor’s graduates come from STEM fields, 29 percent from business, administration and law, and 19 percent from arts, humanities, social sciences, journalism and information.
Public spending in Romania amounts to $10,329 for each higher education student, compared to the OECD average of $15,102.
Completion of higher education offers very good employment prospects in Romania, where the employment rate among people with university degrees is 92 percent, compared to 87 percent, the average of OECD countries.
“However, the average wage advantage for workers aged 25 to 64 who have a college degree compared to those with only a high school education is 41 percent, below the OECD average of 54 percent”notes the organization.
Dissatisfied with income after college
Asked on the Reddit platform how satisfied they are with their salaries after pursuing higher education, many Romanians complained that graduating from a university did not bring them the expected material satisfaction.
“I work as an architect in a design office and earn less than 3,500 lei. Most of my colleagues of my generation earn between 2,750 lei (minimum) and 4,000 lei. Older colleagues like me, who already have 4–5–6 years of contract experience (in reality about 7–8), do not exceed 5,500–6,000 lei. Not having the right to sign until now, I can’t legally practice on my own and I have to starve,” complains an architecture graduate.
He adds that he has invested ten years in college, and although he would like to, he no longer has the resources to start a new college.
“We move forward and hope for the best”, concludes the young man.
Another young man claims that he graduated in 2024 from a technical college, but in his city, Brașov, he found a job that paid 4,000 lei net in his field, and after he was unemployed, he settled for a job where he earns 3,000 lei per month.
Another Romanian believes that higher education is extremely necessary for any career.
“If you don’t have a higher education, you will never have experience, only seniority, and seniority is not rewarded. What added value does a commercial worker with six years of experience bring to the company compared to one with six months? But a construction engineer?”he asks.
Higher education is not enough for a decent salary
Another claims that his relatives with higher education did not have anything to do with the graduation degree, either because they work in another field, or because, although they graduated from college in the field in which they work, they had to learn everything from scratch.
“Just because you didn’t go to college doesn’t mean you’ve missed out on life. If you know how to stick it out and qualify for something that’s in demand and that you can become good at, there’s money to be made. Of course, I encourage going to college, but I don’t encourage the elitism of college or going to college just to have a degree in your pocket. If I knew what I know today about my line of work, I wouldn’t have gone to college. I would have thrown into the workforce from the age of 18; instead of spending on college, I would have gone for relevant credentials in the field and done a college later (now I am writing my bachelor’s), to add another perspective to the knowledge I have acquired in a direction that interests me”says another internet user.
A Romanian believes that it is increasingly difficult for those who complete universities with specializations in Polytechnic and Architecture to find work in the field, with attractive salaries.
“We don’t need to all have degrees, to be a country of engineers, to all work in an office or to be IT people. We all want a lot of money and as little work as possible, but life is hard when you don’t have rich parents. We work where we can. Life goes on.” says this one.
Another Romanian believes that higher education must be complemented by ambition.
“I know people who have been working in the store for almost 20 years, they also have higher education and have 300 lei above the economic minimum. What are these people doing wrong if they are not store managers?”, he asks.
Some Romanians complain about “diploma factories”, i.e. universities considered ineffective because they “produce unemployed people”. Others believe that wages often reflect employees’ lack of initiative, rather than their level of education.
“Many Romanians, especially the older ones, want to have jobs where they feel comfortable. Before, you learned a job and stayed there for life. That’s why, after the Revolution, it was hard for many, and when the factories closed they ended up working as guards or in supermarkets. They don’t want more, they don’t want to learn anything else, they do the minimum necessary for the money they receive. Nobody invests in you if you don’t want more from yourself.” he states.
Higher wages, but in the West
A graduate of Economic Sciences claims that he has a salary of 2,200 euros, but not in Romania.
“I left for Germany because Romania offered me the minimum on economics plus vouchers after three years of breaking the book (I know, ASE is not compared to technical faculties, medicine or architecture, but an effort is still necessary to pass it, it’s not really a high school in the country)”. says this one.
Another graduate claims that he managed to earn decently after leaving Romania.
“My best friend and I (both 25 years old) went to college together, worked at the same internship, and a year ago I went abroad, and he stayed in the country, because he already had a house and a car from his family. Now I earn more than 20 percent above the average of the country I’m in, and he earns 5,100 lei (Bucharest). We are both mechanical engineers, both in the automotive industry. I’m not saying this in the sense that I earn more – well done – but I think that in Romania it is more difficult to be paid above the average in the first years of experience than in Western countries”, says this one.
A Romanian with a monthly income of 11,000 lei congratulates himself for not dropping out of college, although he had intended to do so several times.
“I wanted to drop out of law school until the last moment, but I started working at a law firm in my fourth year and there was no problem with not finishing. I started with the economy minimum, it was about 1,400 lei net at the time, and slowly I climbed up to about 7,000 lei, but I was paid a pittance (as is done everywhere else). The stress ate me up during the five years I spent there, but it worked out well the experience. I currently work in the legal department of a multinational in Bucharest, where I would not have ended up without my previous experience”. says this one.
Another claims he dropped out of college but later resumed his studies and graduated. He currently works as a programmer and has a monthly income of 15,000 lei.
“Nowadays everyone goes to college. It also depends on what you do with it. I have educated but comfortable friends who prefer a little money without breaking the bank. I also have former colleagues who went through college like a goose through a pond”concludes another netizen.
