Who Needs College Anymore? And Job Moves Updates

As we say in our household, happy mid-February day!

Today’s update features:

• a Q&A with the author of a provocative new book, Who Needs College Anymore?
• a terrific article in the Boston Globe on calculating whether a degree is “worth it”—alongside the surrounding debate about the value of higher education
• two new episodes of Future U.—one on the missing men in college (women dramatically outnumber men on campuses nationwide) and one on the growth of direct admissions
• and a flurry of media hits—nine to be specific!—around our book Job Moves: 9 Steps for Making Progress in Your Career. I detail some of the highlights from the conversations, which you can then listen to. And if you haven’t already, order Job Moves today at the link below (for you or a friend):

Order Job Moves Now

Kathleen deLaski , founder and board chair of the Education Design Lab , has written a new book with a title that is growing as a general conversation topic: Who Needs College Anymore? Harvard Education Press will publish the book Feb. 25, and it’s available for preorder now here (or wherever you purchase books). I caught up with Kathleen to ask her about the book.

Q: Who Needs College Anymore? Imagining a Future Where Degrees Won't Matter is a pretty provocative title for a book. But it seems the nuance in your book lies in the subtitle. Will college not matter 20 years from now—or is it that colleges will still matter but they'll be offering something that goes far beyond degrees in your view?

A: I am trying to highlight the fact that the four year degree model only serves a minority of American adults—38%—so we need to stop treating it as the only aspirational brand to reach the American Dream. We have other models that show promise: apprenticeships, short-term certificates, bootcamps. But they can't scale because they don't qualify for the prestige and funding that colleges enjoy. And this is why we have a diploma divide and growing resentment in the country.

Q: How can colleges transform themselves to meet that moment?

A: That is the question. Because if they hold the keys to tuition funding, colleges should (and some are doing this) disrupt themselves to broaden the definition of college. By broadening the definition, I mean to embrace some of the alternative learning paths under the college umbrella. This year's enrollment data show that the fastest growing offerings are not degrees, but certificates and high schoolers getting a taste of college through dual enrollment. I profile several colleges in the book that are breaking the mold.

Q: So tell me the up-shot. If I have an 18-year old right now, do they need to go to college? Who needs college today and who doesn't?

A: I always say college is the best path we have today for an 18-year old until we can elevate the alternatives that families and employers are clearly interested in. If you have a 27-year old, as I did, approaching whether to go for a degree vs. shorter-term training, my daughter opted for the shorter path and it worked for her. In the book, I lay out what types of learners need college the most and who can afford to try the work-arounds. I should add, if you have a 2-year-old child, it will be very interesting to see how AI, consumer habits, K–12 test scores, and student funding policy change my answer in 15 years. I try to give a flavor of what I seeing coming—basically a merger of the education and workforce training sectors—that elite colleges won't have to participate in, because they don't need to.

Check out the book here.

So Is a College Degree Worth It?

If you want to learn more about the heated debate over the value of higher education—and which degrees are “worth it”—I highly recommend this Boston Globe Media article by Hilary Burns : “Is a college degree really worth it?” In it she discusses a relatively new tool to help understand the return on investment from different colleges and their various programs, degrees, and majors. As the creator of that tool (and past guest on the Future of Education, Preston Cooper , said in the article, “For a long time, people have had this view that a college degree will always be worth it and is always going to be the best path. … That is true most of the time, but there are exceptions to that rule.”

Hilary quoted me several times in the article as well. And to those who say college is about more than an ROI, I agree. But as I said in the article, it’s also the case that:

“the economic value of what you’re [offering] can’t be negative.”

Read the full article here.

The Lost Boys of Higher Ed

Over at Future U., Jeff Selingo and I welcomed Richard V. Reeves , author of the book Of Boys and Men, to talk about the disappearance of men in college over time, what’s driving their disappearance, promising interventions, and, importantly, whether we should care about the plight of men in a world where they continue to wield power. Check out the conversation here.

Also on Future U., Jeff and I welcomed Luke Skurman , CEO of Niche.com, one of the nation’s largest direct admissions platforms. This year, thousands of students will be accepted to colleges without ever submitting a formal application. That’s because more and more schools are automatically accepting students who meet preset performance thresholds through direct admissions programs. After exploring what direct admissions is, we delved into the benefits and risks of this innovation and how it changes the dynamics between schools and students. And whether it’s eliminating the right kind of friction for the process—or may result in greater enrollment but less success in college over time. Check out our episode here.

Job Moves in the News

1. Bob Moesta and I joined Tiffani Bova on her “What’s Next!” podcast to talk “Your Path to a Fulfilling Career.” This episode is for anyone navigating career decisions, seeking purpose, or looking for strategies to make meaningful progress in their work. And one of the big messages from the episode is that making career moves isn’t just about finding the next big opportunity—it’s about aligning your work with your values, energy, and aspirations. We also talk about how employers shouldn’t necessarily make a person fit the work, but can also make the work fit a person’s strengths. Finding fulfillment in your job doesn’t always mean a big leap. It can come from small, intentional changes as well.
2. I joined Mitch Joel on his Six Pixels of Separation Podcast. Check out the episode at “Michael Horn On Making Progress In Your Career.” Given my background, we bridge the worlds of education, innovation, and career development in the conversation. We explored everything from the challenges that minimum-wage workers face to the evolving role of AI in the workplace and the need for more experiential learning in education.
3. Mamie Kanfer Stewart welcomed me to The Modern Manager podcast where we discussed “The Real Reason People Leave Jobs (And How to Retain Your Best Employees).” As Mamie wrote, “employee retention is a major challenge for managers today. The common meme that people leave bad jobs because of bad bosses is only partially true.” On the podcast, I explain how “the reality is more complex. Employees leave for a variety of reasons, influenced by both workplace conditions and personal circumstances. Understanding these reasons can help managers take proactive steps to retain their best people and create a thriving work environment. Mamie also wrote up a blog post on our session together, which you can read here.
4. One of my longtime favorite podcasts out of the Harvard Business School has been its classic “Skydeck” podcast. Ethan Bernstein and I joined the show and talked about how people can make real progress in their careers when they switch jobs, the trade-offs required for success, and the hidden power of your random LinkedIn connections. Check out the episode here.
5. Vicki Salemi from the Tribune Content Agency interviewed me for her story “Where do you see yourself this time next year?” As she wrote, if you’ve been “Immersed in full-on holiday mode, where one day blends into the next and the next, you may postpone that job search and/or promotion conversation with your boss until the new year (ahem, as in within arm’s reach in days). Yet, it’s an ideal time to ponder some questions to shape your career trajectory in the new year.”
6. My longtime friend James Barrood interviewed me for his podcast, “A Few Things with Jim Barrood.” We talked “Career, AI, education, retraining, talent, K-12, higher ed” here.
7. I caught up with Mason Pashia and my friends at Getting Smart around the book. Fourth time I’ve been on their podcast apparently! My favorite parts of this conversation focused on the role of storytelling in navigating the job market; geeking out on what else someone who loves music (like Mason!) might do in their career; my skepticism about skills-based hiring; the importance of one’s network; and my career advice for high school students. Listen to it here.
8. Fast Company covered the book in the article, “Job seekers: Here are 5 steps to take before you apply.” No job will tick every box on your dream job requirements. It’s important to put in the work to understand what role and environment will provide progress in your career, not perfection. To switch jobs productively and expect job satisfaction, critical steps need to be completed before submitting your application anywhere.
9. And finally, I joined HRMorning to talk “Are You a Company Your Employees Would Hire? The 3 Point from HR Morning: https://youtu.be/ul50UQ602LE

As always, thanks for reading, writing, and listening.