An End to the Reign of the Four Year Degree?

When I was graduating university for the first time in 2008 and struggling to find a job I remember my friends and I saying, “today having a four year degree is equivalent to our parents having a high school degree…it just isn’t enough.”

So, when I couldn’t find a job in the depths of the 2007-2008 financial crisis, what was the answer?

Well, more school of course.

In order for me to get a job I needed to go back to school and do another degree, or two. So, that’s what I did.

I recently read that Google, Apple and 13 other companies are no longer requiring employees to have a college degree.

This is not to say that any Joe-Blow can walk into Google straight off of the street and become their next computer programmer. It’s just to say that there are other ways to gain the necessary experience for the job.

It seems that some of the big players are willing to bend the educational requirement rules that have been so ingrained for decades.

This is kind of amazing. And, it makes me wonder….is this the end of an education era? Is this the end to the reign of the four year degree?

Education is important but……

Debt

In a world where people are drowning in student debt and still struggling to find a job, even with a four year degree, it makes you wonder…was that four year degree really worth it?

I think the answer is….it depends.

For those that want to pursue professional degrees in engineering, law or medicine, then school is probably still your answer. I personally don’t want a self-taught surgeon operating on me. And, with the salary you are likely to make, it’s worth it.

For others, maybe a four year degree is not the answer. Do you want to be a writer or a computer programmer? There are other, cheaper ways to learn. More on this later.

Because the four year degree has become the new standard requirement for most jobs, most students feel that this is their only option. They feel like they have to take on an enormous amount of debt and they usually have no concept of what this means for the future or how they will go about paying it back.

A four year degree no longer guarantees you a job. It doesn’t even guarantee that you will leave post-secondary as a critical thinker.

In the 1950’s and 1960’s a college degree was something that set you apart. It almost guaranteed you a job and there was a strong correlation between the amount of education you had and your socioeconomic status….more education = more money.

Today this is not necessarily the case.

According to Stats Canada, as of 2016 54% of Canadians aged 25 to 64 had a college or university education. This sounds fantastic BUT, many of these students graduate into a market where they can’t find employment or they are underemployed.

This means they are working in a job that has nothing to do with their degree, or that they could do the job without a degree. Think Starbucks barista or Uber driver. In fact, an assessment by the Canadian Labour Market found that as of 2014 40% of workers age 25-34 with a university degree were overqualified for their current position.

I see this first hand all of the time, my friends husband just finished his Masters degree in English, he is fighting to get a job as a salesperson at Home Depot.

An acquaintance from school has her PhD in neuroscience and she is bar-tending to pay her bills. There is nothing wrong with these jobs but, these are not the career paths that these students signed up for when they traded in 6-10 years of their time and thousands of dollars.

Another thing that has changed.

In the past, graduating from college or university meant that you were capable of reading, writing and problem solving. Graduation was tied to a level of competence.

In a TED talk given by David Ray, a professor at the University of Oklahoma, he suggests that students aren’t working as hard as they used to. They aren’t studying as much. They don’t read or write as much. And, as a result they aren’t graduating with the skills necessary to be successful in the job market.

Is this really the case? And, if so, why?

There are a number of theories I can conjure up, with the help of David Ray, to try and explain why this may be happening.

Students have to work too hard at a job to try and pay for school so they don’t accrue an insane amount of debt. This theory comes from David Ray and it’s a good one. And, it’s probably true for a small percentage of students…..but, I was a student for a long time…I’m not buying this for the majority of college attendees.

Education is a “right” not a privilege….at least for some. I can’t tell you how many students I encountered who were in school because “their parents made them.”

They did the bare minimum to get by, complained about their grades, or had their PARENTS complain about their grades and if the going got too tough they simply dropped out of the course disregarding the $1000.00 price tag.

As I’ve already mentioned, I like school, I wanted to be there. But, I also know the value of school. I recognize that it does cost a lot of money and whether it was coming from my parents during my first degree, or from me for my next ones, I was not going to waste my time or money.

It’s important to understand the true cost of education. You shouldn’t be there if you don’t want to be. It’s a waste of your time and your /your parents money. If you aren’t interested, find a different road. Take a gap year, get a job, figure it out.

The focus is wrong. What is the purpose of gaining a university/college education? Well, traditionally it was to learn to read, write and become a critical thinker.

Today, it seems like the purpose of college is more about the “college experience.” An excuse to live in a dorm, drink too much, eat shitty food and party. The goal is to do just enough to get that piece of paper validating that you did it at the end of year 4, or 5 or 7 or 8.

This point is reiterated in David Rays Ted Talk, he refers to college as a prolonged spring break.

“The problem with most colleges is that they are high school but with more binge drinking.” - Seth Godin

Students don’t get enough practice. In order to become better at reading and writing you need to read and write…right?

But, as David Ray suggests in his Ted Talk, grading papers takes a long time and as a result professors don’t want to do it.

As a result, students write fewer papers and instead do multiple choice tests OR, when they do write they are often graded by teaching assistants who might not apply the most rigorous grading standards or provide the most productive feedback that will aid in a students improvement.

You don’t need to go to school to get an education.

I am coming from the perspective of someone who loves school. Scratch that. I love to learn. I love information and analysis. I love when something clicks in my head and I feel like I just get it.

But, the longer I’ve been out of school, the more perspective I gain. The more I realize that you don’t need to spend $50,000.00 + on an education just so someone can hand you a piece of paper and declare that you are now semi-qualified for an entry level job.

You don’t need to go to school to get an education.

It’s really not about the education. It’s about becoming educated. Being able to read, write and solve complex problems. It’s about the application of new concepts and ideas and not the ability to memorize facts and complete multiple choice exams.

There are many ways to become educated.

The internet. The internet is your portal to the world. It provides an opportunity to learn anything you want, and often for free. You can take classes, connect with like minded individuals or even find a virtual mentor.

But, I also understand that it takes a certain type of person to be able to learn in this fashion.

You have to be self motivated and willing to seek out learning opportunities. You need to be someone who can stick with something on their own accord. Someone who wants to better themselves. If you are that person then start searching. Check out all of the online MOOCs (massive open online course), see what online learning platforms like Coursera and Udemy have to offer.

Read. It doesn’t even need to be as complicated as signing up for an online course (and that’s not very complicated!) If you want to learn about something pick up a book on the subject and start reading.

Write. If you want to be a better writer, start writing. Literally pick up a pen and start a journal, write a list or start a blog.

Podcasts. Everyone has an hour a day they can spare to learn. Even if you are in your car commuting you can download a podcast on literally any subject and treat it like a personal lecture.

Post secondary. I don’t want to completely shit on college and university. I really enjoyed my experience BUT, if I had to do it all over again I would have looked into some other options, like trades school.

Post secondary is still a great option for the right kind of people who are looking for particular jobs. The university environment is one that I loved. A safe space to learn, grow and try new things…for the most part. A place where you can meet like minded people who are working towards a similar goal.

I didn’t have the full “college experience” of living in dorms and doing the walk of shame. My time in university wasn’t like what you see in the movies. I lived at home/on my own and commuted to campus. I couldn’t afford to go away for my four year degree.

So, are we entering a new era of education?

The short answer, I don’t know. But maybe.

Colleges and universities are institutions. Having a four year degree is a standard that has been in place for decades. It is part of the prescribed plan for success (high school → college/university → married → home ownership → baby) and change will be slow.

In order for the four year degree to survive and thrive I think some changes need to be made.

Most importantly, education can’t be a business. We need education for education sake. We need education so people can be literate problem solvers. We need education to try and remove ignorance and lift people up.

As long as education is thought of as “big business” where profit is more important than what is being taught and learned, we are not doing students any favors.

If post secondary institutions continue to put profit first then change is necessary and hopefully imminent.

Some change is happening….

I will say this. When I was in university, online degree programs were completely frowned upon.

They were not considered “real degrees”. The programs were easier to get into, were not as rigorous and were simply different than the status quo.

Things are changing.

Now we can see all of the positives associated with alternative learning. You can learn from anywhere at anytime. You can take classes according to your schedule. A single parent working a full time job can squeeze in classes during their “free time” and give themselves an education.

This is amazing.

I guess the answer for everyone is to really think about what you want and what all of your options are. High schools and guidance counselors need to get better at communicating that college/university is not the only option.

In reality, most jobs still require that four year degree….so, before you completely say “go to hell post-secondary” you’re going to want to look into the qualification required for the job you want.

As for employers. Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate that job description and the skills and abilities that are ACTUALLY required for the job. Maybe it should be more about first hand experience and application in lieu of a four year degree.

One thing we can all agree on. The four year degree is not what it used to be.

All I have left to say is this, kudos to Apple, IBM, Google and others for taking a different stance on education.

Kudos to them for leveling the education playing field. Good for them for looking beyond the school someone attended and focusing on the question that is really important, “do you have the skills necessary to do this job?”

If you don’t need a PhD to program a computer or sort boxes in a factory then I would say, save your time and money.

I want to hear from you….

What do you think, is the four year degree on the way out?

Will other companies follow suit and remove the college/university degree requirement?

Do you think you need to go to post secondary to get an education?

References

Cover Photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash