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By Marni Rose McFall
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While the term "adulting" may be associated with their millennial predecessors, classes on "how to adult" have popped up at multiple universities in the U.S., aiming to teach Gen Z key life skills for adulthood.
Why It Matters
Whether it's stretching the truth in job interviews, lying on job applications or doomed to doom scroll, many alarms have been raised about Gen Z's ascent into adulthood.
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Between 2019 and 2023, anxiety among young adults nearly tripled. Gen Z has quickly developed a negative reputation in the workforce, with a recent Intelligent.com report finding that one in six businesses said they were hesitant to hire recent college graduates. For a generation that grew up online, entry into the "real world," one shaped by rapidly changing tech, a cost of living crisis and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, hasn't been easy.
What To Know
Now, educators and Gen-Z students are tackling this head-on.
At Michigan State University, the University of California, Riverside and JCI Santa Clarita, "adulting" classes are being introduced to help equip young people with essential life skills.
Upcoming events at Michigan State University include workshops like 'International Travel on a Budget,' 'Mastering Meal Planning,' 'Navigating Life: Addressing and Handling Peer Pressure,' and 'Professionalism: Communicate, Dress and Deliver With Confidence.'
A spokesperson for Michigan State University's "Adulting 101" programs told Newsweek that such events are designed to help young people "navigate the complexities of everyday life as an independent adult."
Over at the University of California, Riverside, the Adulting Program "supports students' ability to succeed with their basic needs, career readiness, and financial wellness."
The program has three key areas of focus: "Basic Needs, Career Development, and Financial Wellness."
JCI Santa Clarita meanwhile provides a "simulation" project. It provides "participants with an identity that includes a career and salary," and participants then visit booths which offer goods in order to help them learn how to live within their means.
What People Are Saying
A spokesperson for Michigan State University's Adulting 101 programs told Newsweek: "The main goal of the program is to provide education and resources that help individuals, especially teens and young adults, navigate the complexities of everyday life as an independent adult. We try to focus on practical life skills often not taught in traditional classes. We have found some of the most popular classes relate to financial literacy: credit, investing, banking, and budgeting. Since this program started in 2019, we have had an amazing attendance overall ranging from 50 to 1000 attendees each session."
A spokesperson for the University of Waterloo in Canada told Newsweek: "Adulting Guide is the name of a communications campaign designed to consolidate information from various units across campus to promote student well-being and personal development. The campaign encourages students to prioritize their mental and physical health, take on new responsibilities, and explore opportunities for personal growth. It serves as a creative and engaging way to connect students with existing campus supports and resources."
What's Next
These classes have already been adopted at multiple universities; whether they grow in prevalence remains to be seen. Some of these projects have already been running for multiple years, reflecting success of these initiatives.
Update 05/29/25, 11:33 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comments from spokespeople forMichigan State University's Adulting 101 program and the University of Waterloo in Canada.
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