Is College Even Worth It Anymore?

Or Has It Become a Convenient Excuse Not to Hire Qualified People?

There was a time when a college degree was the golden ticket. A gateway to opportunity. A clear marker of knowledge, commitment, and capability. But somewhere along the way, the value of a degree shifted from “this person has a useful education” to “this person can jump through the hoop I prefer.”

And the hoop keeps getting moved.

When I started my advocacy journey, I knew that eventually I would need a paying role in the nonprofit sector. I wasn’t naïve. I understood that organizations often want degrees, especially when donors or boards are watching. So I went in prepared to meet those expectations.

But what I didn’t expect was how arbitrary the requirements would be.

I approached several nonprofits. Some glanced at my experience — operations, advocacy, communications, legislative work — and then brushed it aside with the same line: “You need a degree.” One even added, helpfully, “Any degree. Doesn’t matter what it is.”

Excellent. So apparently I could major in interpretive dance and still qualify.

Fine. I got my associate degree. I did the thing. I met the requirement.

Or so I thought.

Once I returned, cheerful diploma in hand, suddenly the bar had moved again. Now I needed a bachelor’s degree. Or a master’s. Or both, depending on the mood of the HR department that day.

I looked into bachelor’s programs, thinking, optimistically, “Two more years. I can do this.”

Except it wasn’t two years. It was four to six. Because the classes required for political science or philanthropy weren’t offered annually. They were offered “whenever the stars align and Professor So-and-So feels spiritually compelled.” Each had prerequisites that pushed entire semesters out of reach. Funding was a problem. Time was a problem. Real life was a problem. Bills, groceries, taxes, gas — they do not politely pause while you pursue yet another academic credential.

So here I am, with an associate degree, years of real-world experience, and a portfolio of advocacy work that most degree-holders don’t start touching until grad school. And still, in the eyes of some hiring managers, it isn’t enough.

Which raises the question: Is college even worth it anymore? Or has it quietly morphed into a socially acceptable gatekeeping tool?

Because it sure feels like a lot of organizations aren’t looking for talent. They’re looking for paperwork. And if the paperwork keeps you out, well, that’s convenient for them.

Here’s the truth no one likes to say out loud:

• Plenty of people doing high-skill, high-impact work don’t have a degree.

• Plenty of people who do have degrees never use them at all.

• The world is full of brilliant people who learned by doing, not by sitting through a lecture on “Organizational Theory 202.”

• Nonprofits in particular often depend on people with lived experience — and then fail to hire them because they want a credential that proves less than the experience itself.

• Maybe it is just a cost-saving measure, if you have someone already doing the job as a volunteer, and dangle the “if you get a degree,” we will pay you to do what you are already doing. And once you get a Bachelor’s degree, they say you have to have a Masters or a Doctorate, just to get “Free” work out of you as you slowly burn out emotionally and financially.

I’m not anti-education. If anything, I love learning. I devour research, policy analysis, legislative history, nonprofit best practices, you name it. But somewhere along the way, education became a box to check instead of an investment in people. And the box keeps getting bigger, heavier, and more expensive.

College should open doors. It shouldn’t become the lock on the door you’re already standing in front of.

I don’t know if the hiring world will ever fully catch up to the reality that a degree is not the only measure of competence. I do know that lived experience, dedication, skills, and results should matter just as much — and often far more.

Maybe the real question is this:

If someone is already doing the work, already making the impact, and already carrying the load… does a missing diploma actually matter?

Or do we cling to degrees because it’s easier than redesigning the system to value people for what they can do?

I suspect many of us already know the answer.

And it didn’t come from a textbook.