Once upon a time, movie theaters were the place to go for people to experience a reflection of themselves on the big screen. From cult classics like Revenge of the Nerds to more modern favorites like Pitch Perfect, college students were able to see their own journeys mirrored in Hollywood. Flash forward to today’s movie landscape, and theaters are dominated by franchises, sequels, and reimaginings of stories already told. So the question is — why did studios stop investing in movies set in college?
One of the earliest cinematic depictions of college life is 1978’s National Lampoon’s Animal House. A film that cemented the idea of college as a place of partying and rebellion against authority, it provided a raunchy and humorous (albeit unrealistic) depiction of the college experience.
Moving into the late ‘90s and early 2000s, films set in college were still full of satire, but they were less often first or standalone films. Instead, movies like American Pie Presents: Beta House and Scream 2 were sequels to already established favorites. The 2010s had the Pitch Perfect franchise and only a handful of notable others. Today, it’s hard to think of a movie set in college that came out in the last five years.
Dr. Jason Scott, an expert in film and media studies at Arizona State University, said the explanation for the end of this era is simple — college is no longer viewed as a fantasy. “There’s some data showing that, generally speaking, Gen Z and Gen Alpha respect the institutions of universities less, value it less, and don’t mythologize it that way,” Dr. Scott says. “I think that generational shift is a big part of it.”
In the last decade or so, some Gen Zers have viewed college as an obligation and financial burden, and others simply don’t experience the “classic” college lifestyle anymore. “Most people are going to go to community college or state school … where that romantic college existence of Greek life or whatever just doesn’t mesh with what you expect college to be,” Dr. Scott says.
In addition to this shift in the outlook on college life, Dr. Scott says, studios just aren’t interested in college films anymore. “Any film that’s just about normal human beings living their lives and having experiences, that’s not feature film material anymore,” he says. “What you see in movie theaters is superstar, blockbuster, comic book, Mission Impossible kind of stuff.” The dominance of major, multi-film properties allows studios to leverage popularity with established film franchises rather than create popularity from the ground up with fresh, new ideas.
According to Dr. Scott, the college genre is just one of many that have been pushed out of theatrical release — romantic comedies and character- or setting-driven stories have also been put on the backburner as Hollywood favors what they believe are guaranteed moneymakers.
How Streaming Became the Place for College Stories
While stories showing the college experience aren’t in theaters as often anymore, viewers can still find them elsewhere. Tell Me Lies, Overcompensating, and The Sex Lives of College Girls are just a few examples of the recent advances in college storytelling. The common denominator? They’re all streaming shows. Hollywood decided that streaming is better suited (and less costly) for this kind of serialized, coming-of-age storytelling and never looked back.
Not only are streamed shows a lower financial risk for networks, but streaming has a significantly larger audience than traditional movie theaters. According to a 2025 poll from The Associated Press, almost half of adults under age 30 say they watched a recently released movie on streaming at least once a month instead of going to the theater.
Will College Movies Make a Comeback?
So the question remains — will college movies ever make a notable return to theaters? As Dr. Scott says, what goes around comes around. “Someone will write and create and produce a really good movie that’s set in and around college…or maybe it’s about an incident that happens on a college campus that sort of shifts people’s focus back and says, ‘Hey, aren’t the lives of college students or college communities interesting?’”
However, Gen Z must play their part in the Hollywood ecosystem. Dr. Scott’s advice to those who want Hollywood to hear their voice is simple. When a college-set movie does come out, “so to see it in the theater,” he says. Do that, “and you’ll increase the chance that another film like that one will get out in the theater the next year.”
Until then, Gen Z will continue to urge Hollywood to tell their stories — because Gen Z deserves to see itself on the big screen.