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Questioning whether college degrees should be required for employment often draws accusations of dismissing higher education entirely. In response to my article “Do Degrees and Credentials Actually Prove Competence at Work?,” Jonathan commented, “If you think it’s all a waste, do everyone a favor and stay away.”
This reaction misses the point. It is reasonable to ask if a degree should be a prerequisite for gainful employment and whether the labor market must rely on academia for job training.
[RELATED: Higher Education Fuels Corporate Profits at the Expense of American Workers]
The answer isn’t unknowable—just contested. In Texas, education leaders push college as a workforce pipeline, especially for fields like computer science. (I disagree with the push to steer students into computer science, as it appears to be a degree track that doesn’t deliver the promised career prospects, especially as American students will increasingly face competition from H-1B visa holders for these jobs.) Meanwhile, other states are shifting toward skills-based hiring, reflecting growing skepticism about higher education’s effectiveness.
I side with states removing degree requirements. Outside of fields where a degree is truly essential, it serves as little more than an arbitrary barrier. My reasoning—anecdotal but revealing—is twofold: (1) Until I switched to journalism, I never needed my history degree—not even in politics. (2) Even when credentials matter, the exams that grant them often test on things completely unrelated to the job.
Do Degrees and Credentials Actually Prove Competence at Work?
— Jared Gould (@J_Gould_) February 24, 2025
Does pointing this out make me a conservative troll? I don’t think so. Nor does it mean I believe higher education is a “waste of time.”
A strong liberal arts education, for example, cultivates civic virtue, self-government, and responsibility. As Liza Libes notes in “Conservatives Must Save the Liberal Arts,” a liberal arts education also develops one’s “critical thinking prowess and cultural awareness.” Developing these skills and values is not a waste of time.
[RELATED: If You Want Young Adults to Grow Up, Don’t Bar Them from Serious Work]
But this is where we need to consider two ideas simultaneously.
A good education has intrinsic value, but that doesn’t mean employers should require it. The misalignment between education and the workforce is too great to claim that degrees reliably signal job readiness. Education’s worth extends beyond job prospects: it enriches thought, strengthens civic engagement, and deepens our understanding of the world. These are noble aims—but they are not prerequisites for work.
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Image: “Woman Filling Out a Job Application” by Amtec Photos on Flickr
This article was originally published at www.mindingthecampus.org
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