College-bound Gen Z is choosing a school based on how it looks on TikTok

There are so many reasons to choose where to attend college, but for the TikTok generation, the deciding factor is how aesthetically pleasing campus life will be.

Gen Z is basing its higher education decision on how well it can be documented on social media platforms like TikTok.

Morgan McGuire, a college content creator, told Teen Vogue that she’s considering her massive following of nearly 770,000 when choosing a university, taking into account campus aesthetics and extracurriculars.

She admitted that she often prioritizes TikTok content over everything else — even sleep.

“I like making my own content … I just feel more important because I care more about it,” said the graduate.

Tyjai Jackson – an 18-year-old who boasts over 78,000 followers on the app – has also built her entire schedule around creating online content.

“I would literally wake up at 4:00 a.m. every day just to do some TikToks before I had to leave for school,” she told Teen Vogue of her high school routine. . “If you really want to be an influencer or whatever, you need consistency.”

A recent study of Gen Zers found that 57% of the younger generation aspire to be an influencer, a full-time career that can pay the bills—or the tuition.

So far in 2024, Teen Vogue reported, McGuire has amassed $81,000 from both brand deals and the TikTok Creator Fund, which she’s using to invest in a retirement fund and pay for her education. .

Creator Peyton Mikolayek, who is now a freshman at Johns Hopkins University, received $7,000 for just one sponsored video as a senior, a phenomenon that is not uncommon, according to industry sources.

Max Elk, a senior talent manager at Grail Talent, told Teen Vogue that high schoolers can make “unbelievable” money from social media “because they have something that these brands want”: a platform with a colossal following.

College-aged influencers across the country are dominating TikTok, regularly posting content about dorm decorating or sharing daily videos involving going to class, completing school work, or just having fun on campus.

The #collegelife TikTok hashtag has 2.3 million posts and over 30 billion views, and the type of content being shared by campuses across the country is informing prospective students’ decisions about where to apply and commit, several students told Business Insider.

College counselor Greg Kaplan told the paper that he’s seen students completely change where they want to apply for higher education just based on what they see on social media from their favorite creators who attend those schools.

“It was definitely a very useful tool to experience these campuses without going to them in person,” content creator and Harvard freshman Helaine Zhao, who posts college-specific content, told Insider.

Vignettes of campus life can be especially useful for potential applicants to get a “vibe check,” added BKT Education co-founder Lucie Vágnerová.

“You can see a snippet from the cafeteria, people kicking a soccer ball around the quad, or even if it’s stressful studying in the library,” she told Insider. “Just real life stuff that a college website won’t necessarily tell you.”