Recruiting Returns to Elite Campus Pipelines

Employers are shifting back from broad, skills‑based hiring to concentrated campus recruiting at a small list of elite universities; a 2025 Veris Insights survey found 26% of firms now recruit exclusively from shortlists (up from 17% in 2022), and major firms report cutting campus coverage from dozens to a few dozen schools. This reduces labor‑market access for non‑elite graduates, undermines geographically distributed hiring, and weakens campus diversity initiatives. — A sustained re‑centralization of recruiting reshapes social mobility, corporate diversity outcomes, regional labor markets, and how universities and policymakers should respond to ensure broader opportunity.