OKX ' s latest report shows that the demand for encryption and block-linking education by United States university students has significantly exceeded the availability of tertiary courses. According to the report, 90 per cent of university students wanted financial education to be included, but another study of American universities showed that only about 28 per cent of the institutions visited had at least one block chain course.
Course coverage remains low
This comparison is based on two separate sets of data. OKX surveys focus on student and parent attitudes, while another academic study published in 2025 shows 533 American universities with AACSB certified business schools.
In March 2024, following a search of the network of higher education officers and course catalogues, researchers found that 151 schools offered at least one block chain-related course, about 28 per cent of the total. Of these, only 76 schools have two or more courses and only 2 have at least 10.
- Ninety percent of university students want to be included in encryption education.
- 27% of students think it should be mandatory.
- 32% of parents support compulsory arrangements
More students studying outside school
Reports indicate that many students do not have access to encryption in the classroom. Family members and friends each account for 10 per cent of the students ' main sources of information, while the traditional media account for only 6 per cent, indicating that much of the learning behaviour takes place outside the tertiary system.
However, there are clear limitations to this investigation. The release of OKX did not disclose the number of samples, survey time and sampling methods, nor did it test whether respondents really understood the specifics of wallet security, private key management, taxation or fraud identification.
Business starts directly financing projects
In a context of inadequate course delivery, some encryption companies have started to directly fund university projects. Ripple entered into a five-year cooperation with the University of Kansas in July this year, covering financial literacy and digital asset education.
The University of Kansas also operates an XRP Ledger validation node through the Faculty of Engineering, which is supported by the Ripple University block chain research programme. In August, Ripple also extended its support to the New York University Abu Dhabi block chain research project until 2027.
Ripple states that its tertiary education project has supported more than 800 new or expanded courses in financial science and technology in 27 countries and over 60 cooperative universities, as well as 1,500 academic block-chain research projects.
Bitcoin is getting better.
The survey also revealed that students were taking encryption to their families. Forty-seven per cent of students indicated that they had told their parents or guardians about encryption or investment; 43 per cent of parents also indicated that they had learned about it from children attending university.
In terms of employment options, 56 per cent of students stated that they “will” or “may” accept a 20 per cent job paid in bitcoin, with a higher percentage of support among parents, at 62 per cent.
In the United States, however, pay in bitcoin does not change tax treatment. The U.S. IRS treats digital asset remuneration as a general income subject to federal income tax withholding, social security, health insurance and unemployment tax. Upon receipt of Bitcoin, the subsequent sale or exchange of the employee may also result in capital gains or losses.