What is a student’s dream like in 2026?

Before, the answer was simple. To find a place to study, learn new things, graduate, find a job, and find your place in the world. The university was the place where the world opened up.

The student’s dream has not disappeared, but it has transformed.

Increasingly often, dreams are not about future opportunities, but about managing the present. In the middle of studies, subsistence and an uncertain future, for many students, the dream boils down to one question: can I manage this?

Students’ everyday lives are overshadowed by continuous uncertainty. Income is scarce, the outlook for the labour market is unstable, and the news are filled with crises, wars, and climate disasters. At the same time, students are increasingly expected to graduate faster, perform more efficiently, and remain constantly competitive.

It is no wonder that young people and students are losing faith in the future.

According to Finland’s Youth Barometer 2025 published this week, young people’s faith in the future is the weakest in the history of the barometer. Only 17% are optimistic about the future of the world. At the same time, the loneliness of young people is increasing, and as many as one in three of university students experience significant psychological stress.

The future has never looked as uncertain for young people as it does now. Still, students continue to build a better future. That is at the core of student identity.

Students have always been more than just future employees. They are the builders of the future. The Finnish student movement has a long history as a torch-bearer of hope in society. When society has been at the brink of despair, students have shown that a different future is possible. They could not afford to give up on the dream of a better tomorrow, nor can we do that now.

That is why faith in the future is not just a feeling. It is a social resource.

Faith in the future affects whether people dare to apply for education, whether it is possible to start a family, or whether they are even able to pursue their dreams. In the long term, young people’s faith in the future will affect society as a whole: competence, crisis resilience, growth, birth rate, and even the state of democracy.

A society in which students do not dare to dream stops building a future.

That is why young people’s faith in the future cannot be restored by words alone. It is high time for action. We need well-resourced student healthcare, sufficient income, and education policies that create opportunities and do not shut doors in students’ faces.

Dreaming is the best weapon against the lack of vision.

Students’ dreams are not only personal dreams, but also visions for a better world: a more sustainable society and a more just future.

We, the students, are the future of our society, but also a resource of society today. That is why it is now time to defend students’ right to dream.

And turn those dreams into reality.

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