DEGREE OR NONDEGREE, THAT IS THE QUESTION
Is a college degree still worth the investment? It depends of the path you craft.
In spite of some of the challenges facing higher education today, a positive hopeful mindset remains among many people. Prospective, current, and former college students affirm higher education’s value for their futures. Frequently, it comes down to which particular higher education path or nondegree option would be best. People simply need guidance and clarity as eCampus News explains:
“Many students are open to returning to college or pursuing new credentials, but don’t fully understand their options. There is a significant opportunity to support re-entry and lifelong learning by clarifying pathways and elevating non-degree options.”
Nondegree options include certifications, apprenticeships, specialized training programs, and on-the-job training. They certainly can be very smart opportunities provided the student has exercised due diligence before making that significant commitment. Equally important to that student’s success is the solid commitment and execution follow-through in that nondegree program. Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce strongly affirms the nondegree option:
“a bachelor’s degree should not be—and is not—the only path to an attractive career. Business leaders have an important role to play in this respect, to both ensure we are not inflating job requirements to include degrees or credentials when they are unnecessary, as well as to engage with educators and community partners on the knowledge, skills, and behaviors that are critical to worker success.” (The Future of Good Jobs: Projections through 2031, p. 4.)
Nevertheless, that same report affirms that the higher education path is often more favorable:
“[we project] that 79 percent of jobs on the bachelor’s degree pathway will be good jobs, far and away the highest good-jobs rate among [alternate] pathways.”
Although a nondegree career path certainly will lead many people to very successful outcomes, in the big picture purely based on the numbers, the degree path does have somewhat of the edge. Hiring managers, HR departments, and society at large tend to attach significance to an academic credential. The degree is often a key indicator of commitment, professionalism, knowledge, and competence.
Not surprisingly, people’s probability of being gainfully employed is significantly affected by their academic credentials. The unemployment figures consistently demonstrate the enduring value of higher education. The seasonally adjusted August 2025 unemployment rate for persons not having a high school diploma is 6.7% (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Having a high school diploma drops that rate to 4.3% and some college or a two-year degree drops it significantly further to 3.2%. Finally, if we look at people having a four-year degree, a graduate degree, or a doctoral degree, the unemployment rate is a low 2.7%.
Higher education’s edge is especially clear when you consider the significant range of these percentages over the education levels. Look at the two ends of the spectrum: less-than-high school (6.7%) versus a four-year degree or higher (2.7%). Consistently, regardless of the sampling period, the unemployment rate clearly demonstrates these statistical correlations. This is why, when people seek my counsel about career planning, higher education remains one of my significant emphases. Formal education pays. Degrees still rock.
Regardless of how good or bad the economy is, regardless of how many individual academic and career disasters can be cited, and regardless of how loud higher education critics might shout, when it comes to having a job versus not having a job, you are better off having a degree than not having a degree.
In conclusion, this is not an argument for the absolute validity of the degree option versus the absolute validity of the nondegree option. Rather, it is a clear endorsement of the validity of both paths, and realizing all the factors that will make either one optimally useful for any particular student or worker. The good news (for the younger generations especially) is that people are starting to understand these dynamics better. Equipped with that understanding, students and workers will make more informed decisions, and thereby enjoy more successful careers on whichever path they choose. I trust you have made or will make similarly well-informed career-path decisions too.
