This article was originally published in the Student Press Report , a national news desk covering student media and journalism education in higher ed. The outlook for aspiring journalists is increasingly uncertain. Layoffs ripple through major U.S. newsrooms, local papers shutter at an alarming rate, politicians sharpen their attacks on the press and AI technology threatens to make journalists obsolete. Yet, 10,073 students graduated with journalism degrees in the U.S. in 2025, according to a report by Data USA , an open-source platform for visualizing U.S. government data. What keeps these new journalists motivated? In this season of graduations, here’s what college journalists from around the country had to say about their career plans and their ideas about the future of the field. ‘I didn’t go into the field for money’ Hannah Neurohr graduated from Penn State in State College, Pennsylvania, last weekend. Her interest in journalism started when she watched the news with her dad during COVID-19.…