THEThe high school diploma is, par excellence, the moment of the big breath. It’s that magical moment in which the hardships of adolescence finally seem to be behind us and summer opens up like an expanse of infinite possibilities. Nevertheless, for many Italian kids, that breath breaks too soon. In fact, as soon as school classrooms are replaced by large university auditoriums, enthusiasm gives way to an unexpected reality. The most recent data published in AlmaDiploma Report 2026 they speak clearly: more than one student in six decides to backtrack or radically change path already during the first year of studies. A silent phenomenon that tells much more than a simple crisis of listlessness.
Broken dreams: why so many freshmen run away from university
The problem isn’t in the kids’ abilities, but rather in the fragility of the foundations on which their choice rests. Many students arrive at the moment of enrollment with an almost idealized, if not completely distorted, vision of what they will study. However, when expectations clash with the reality of lessons, disappointment is just around the corner. More than a third of those who drop out do so because the subjects do not reflect them what they imagined. The stimulating path that turns out, when tested by facts, to be a list of exams far from one’s interests.
Limited entry tests and plans B
The entrance test system also weighs like a stone. In Italy, access to many courses is regulated by the so-called “limited number”or a selection based on ministerial quizzes that decide the fate of thousands of aspiring professionals. For almost one in ten freshman, the failure or difficulty of these tests becomes an insurmountable wallwhich forces us to fall back on a “plan B” often chosen hastily and without conviction, with the sole aim of not remaining still.
An investigation by Almadiploma reveals the fragility of a system that often leaves students alone immediately after graduation. (Getty Images)
The inequalities that never stop weighing
While college is supposed to be the great social leveler, the place where merit trumps all, the numbers tell a different story. There is a sort of “natural selection” which hits those who come from certain backgrounds harder. The students who, for example, attended professional or technical institutes, show significantly higher dropout rates compared to their high school colleagues. This happens because the university study method requires an enormous adaptation effort for those who have been used to more practical and immediate training.
How important is the family in choosing a university
No less relevant is the weight of the family. Who grows up in a home where at least one parent has already gone through university possesses, almost unconsciously, a sort of “instruction manual” for surviving academic bureaucracy and the solitude of individual study. For the children of those who did not graduateInstead, the impact with the university can be much more alienatingturning every difficulty into a reason to doubt one’s abilities.
The role of orientation and the importance of emotional support
But why do some resist and others not? The difference seems to lie in the quality of the orientation received during the last year of high school. Orientation doesn’t just have to be a series of brochures or presentations at trade shows, but to be useful it must become a true path of awareness. When kids are left alone to browse websites and course catalogues, the risk of shipwreck is very high. Those who have been able to count on valid and thoughtful support activities tend to stay the course even when faced with the first difficult exams.
Insecurity and fear of the future
There is, however, also an emotional component that is too often ignored. The reports highlight how fear of the future and agitation are predominant feelings in the months preceding enrolment. Those who face university with a heart full of anxiety and uncertainty are much more likely to give up than those who feel determined and motivated. In this context, the university ceases to be just a place of culture to become a test bed for the psychological resilience of a generation who feels the burden of having to succeed at all costs.
Beyond the taboo of economic abandonment
There is one more relevant aspect that contributes to increasing the phenomenon of abandonment and it is not the cost of tuition or rent in university cities, as we often tend to think. In reality, the analysis of the motivations reveals that economic reasons have only a minimal impact. The real obstacle is the loss of meaning. An entirely contemporary paradox, to tell the truth: we have built a system that focuses entirely on the “piece of paper”, but we forgot to give the kids a compass so they don’t drown in the sea of possibilities.
A much deeper and more difficult problem to solve than giving a scholarship. When a boy prefers to go to work, it is because work gives him immediate gratification, a role in the world, something “tangible” than the university he can’t give it.
What to do?
Recognizing this phenomenon, this crisis of meaning among graduates, is fundamental because it means questioning ourselves on how well the education system really knows how to listen to their desires and attitudes. The challenge for the future, in fact, is not to increase the number of graduates to climb the European rankings, but to ensure that every student can find a path that is not just a title to hang on the wallbut a road in which to recognize oneself and, finally, walk with sure steps.