Since we were little, our parents urged us to earn a college diploma. They believed a diploma qualified you for a “better job.” And nothing could make that fact more believable than university research that supports the notion.

Wait. Did I suggest “university research proves graduates get better jobs?” Does that validate tobacco company research that indicates cigarettes are safe? Would you believe oil company-sponsored research that “proved” fossil fuels aren’t a major cause of air pollution? You wouldn’t? Why not?

Why should we believe research conducted by universities and related entities when the result is in the best interest of universities? I shouldn’t. And neither should you.

College is a bigger and riskier commitment now than ever. Most universities and colleges don’t feel it’s their “job” to win great jobs for their graduates. As a result of diploma demand, higher education is so expensive it causes many grads to launch their careers in substantial debt. On average, college grads leave campus $30,000 dollars in debt these days. Its cost has risen faster than the cost of healthcare over the past 2 decades! Why is it so expensive? Because people will pay the tariff misguided by generations of false beliefs.

Also importantly, the purpose of higher education does not include the learning of workplace skills. Universities, throughout history, have been charged with sharpening students’ abilities to think critically. And employers have a tough time hiring intelligent young people who can think but can’t step into their roles in the commercial workplace.

Still, many remain convinced a university education is imperative to show on a resume. True, it may be imperative, depending on the direction you wish your career to take. For those students who envision their careers requiring a college diploma, it’s equally important the remember that tuition is an investment that must show a return and, like everything in life, is negotiable. In fact, I was told by a vice-dean at one of the universities for which I taught, more than 50% of the students at that institution “were on a partial or full scholarship.” The term “scholarship,” in business parlance, is a “discount.”

We’re coming out of the era when college diplomas were required “to get a better job.” They certainly were in the 50s and 60s, a bit less so in the 1970s.

I taught in classrooms for 22 years. And during that time, not only has the nature of student changed, so has the nature of the commercial workplace. Grads are more tech-savvy. They don’t perceive themselves as subordinate to their managers. And more than you’d believe graduate from college, found their own businesses and figure out necessary workplace skills on their own.

Mix that with what the COVID19 crisis has taught us and you’ll come to the same conclusion as I: college is great. But it’s not a guarantor of a better job. In fact, it’s a near guarantor of starting one’s career in debt.