Getting a college degree is – for many – an aspirational milestone in life that ensures security further down the line. But with finance-induced stress rife and rising tuition fees, more than 40 million Americans had student debt in September 2014. And they’d go to great lengths to get rid of it.

Generation Z helped bolster the revenue of video games and downloadable content to $50 billion in 2014. Older gamers hate the very existence of microtransactions in gaming. But Gen Z are not only enthusiastic consumers of virtual goods, but also savvy entrepreneurs; gaming is even replacing ‘saturday jobs’. How is Gen Z rewriting the reality of how, and for what, we shop online?

As our society grows more complex, the educational landscape is becoming radically different. Our educational choices have multiplied exponentially, regardless of age, location or level, with the introduction of digital learning. But how effective are these new methods?

From Coasties to K-Poppers, the US is home to a range of teen subcultures. In the third of a series exploring Gen Z and Gen Y tribes, Andrea Graham Richeson delves into the overscheduled world of Alpha Achievers. Do these ambitious teens embody the model student and future star employee?