Is a College Education Still Valuable?

A College Education Has Value but May Be Missing Critical Elements

By Dr. Stanley Litow, Professor, Columbia University, and Malia Marks Ph.D. Candidate, University of Cambridge

A College Education Is Still Valuable in the 21st Century

Dr. Stanley Litow, Professor, Columbia University

The movement to make high school mandatory in the United States started at the end of the Second World War. Before that, high school was optional. The completion of eighth-grade was considered sufficient for young people and many entered the workforce afterwards. A high school diploma not only fueled economic growth, but was connected to social stability and civic consciousness. Today, a college education is as important as a high school education was in the 20th century. 

People With A College Degree Earn More

Those who enter the workforce with a college degree are likely to earn at least $1 million more over their lifetime than those who enter the workforce without a college education, and the number of jobs requiring a postsecondary education continues to rise. In addition to the increased earning power of those with a college education, attending college leads to economic stability, economic growth, and civic engagement. College graduates are more likely to vote, engage in community service, and share their wealth through philanthropy.

For those who suggest that college doesn’t matter, the data shows that college not only matters but matters more than ever. Young people appear to agree, as we are seeing an uptick in college enrollment post-COVID. Though many in the media denigrate colleges, young people seem to understand the data and act accordingly.

An Integrated Approach Is Needed for the Future

Colleges, however, should make postsecondary learning more valuable through an integrated approach that includes innovation and change. High school and college courses need to be better aligned to allow more high school students to take college courses, potentially before or after school as well as during the summer. College can be made more affordable with innovative government support program, such as the Federal College Work Study Program, Pell Grants, and an expansion of student loans. Additionally, students need more guidance and support upon entering college, including access to experiential learning and exposure to career opportunities. This will lead to increased enrollment and completion rates.

Coursework should be more engaging with an expansion of courses aligned with growing industries, such as cybersecurity, biotechnology, and environmental jobs. Micro-credentials (short learning experiences in a specific area) should be expanded across postsecondary institutions in partnership with employers, along with more credit-bearing opportunities for prior learning. But that kind of systemic change and innovation needs to be embraced by all our institutions, including the private sector, civil society, and K-12 education. 

While colleges need innovation and reform, they should not be denigrated. For those who say that “college doesn’t matter,” they must look again at the data. College attendance and completion are directly connected to economic growth, societal improvement, and social stability—a failure to understand those core facts does not bode well for the future.

The Value of a College Education Has Fallen

Malia Marks Ph.D. Candidate, University of Cambridge

As Dr. Litow argues, colleges have failed to adapt to the needs of our rapidly changing world. He rightly points out that this does not mean that colleges are doomed to obscurity or entirely useless—they are simply less valuable now than they once were. The question is not whether a college education is completely devoid of value, but whether it is less valuable today than in the past. 

Dr. Litow appears to believe that the core value of college education is economic in nature. I disagree. Historically, a university degree provided students and society with something far more valuable than money—it taught them how to think well. Medieval universities taught Aristotelian science—the search for truth for truth’s sake. These battlegrounds of ideas were where curiosity and critical thinking were forged in a fire of bottomless readings and passionate lectures. Only then, through competent debate, could bias and ideology be peeled away to reveal pearls of truth. This demanded free expression and a daring disposition, which eventually leads to progress. 

The Reality of College Today

Universities no longer fulfill this important function. My alma mater, Harvard University, was recently named by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression as the worst American college campus for free speech. Schools across the nation look to Harvard for guidance; our pedigree is widely seen as conferring the highest level of intellectual achievement and ability. Harvard was supposed to be the best we could do, but it’s still failing. 

Rather than cultivating tenacity, colleges’ bloated administrations tell students that we should always feel safe. This mentality directly limits open discourse about contentious ideas. Those who hurt students’ feelings often face career and reputational harm. As a graduate student at Cambridge, I have personally been cautioned that if I publicly discuss or research certain topics, I will be jeopardizing my academic career. This breeds intellectual orthodoxy and fear, the antithesis of innovation. 

Trust in Higher Education Is Falling

Dr. Litow takes a narrow economic view of the value of universities. He stresses the importance of understanding statistics but forgets that correlation does not indicate causation. Graduates are not paid more simply because they have a degree, but because degrees are seen as guaranteeing graduates’ quality of character and achievements. Similarly, a college degree alone does not lead to economic growth, societal improvement, or social stability. 

No, the secret sauce is in learning to think fearlessly. Our colleges have lost the recipe, and the customers are starting to notice. Per Gallup polling, trust in higher education dropped from 57 percent to 36 percent from 2015 to 2023; those saying they had “very little” trust in higher education went from 9 percent to 22 percent in the same time frame. 

To be clear, I do not regret attending some of the most prestigious universities in the world. I acknowledge, though, that these experiences were not what I expected. Universities have allowed changing social climates to interrupt their most valuable lesson: free thought.

The Benefits of a College Education Are More Than Economic

Dr. Stanley Litow, Professor, Columbia University

In response to Ms. Marks’ views, let me be clear that the value of a college education goes well beyond its economic value. Those with a college degree are also far more likely to vote, to volunteer their time in the public interest, and to contribute philanthropically to society. Additionally, a college degree supports the importance of continuous learning. 

Moreover, those who obtain a college degree are likely to earn significantly more than those who enter the workforce with only a high school diploma. Graduates with a bachelor’s degree earn 84 percent more than those with only a high school diploma. In addition, 74 percent of people with a college degree earned incomes greater than their parents. The higher personal incomes for graduates and the tax revenue generated from those earnings, in addition to increased civic engagement and philanthropic contributions, provide clear evidence that a college degree has value beyond the economic return to the individual or society. Colleges build and sustain our economy and democracy.

Education Directly Impacts Societal Success

Quality education is connected to virtually every significant issue facing society, including health care, civic engagement, and the environment. As a Trustee of the State University of New York with over 60 campuses across New York State, including both two- and four-year institutions, I have seen firsthand the impact of SUNY degrees on students including students from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities. While we still struggle with income inequality with no panacea yet to address the income gap, education is perhaps the best way, at present, to narrow the gap.

College matters now more than ever, and an educated, civic-minded population is key to societal success. That doesn’t mean that colleges and universities across the U.S. and the world don’t need to improve and address economic and social changes. Our postsecondary institutions need to repurpose and reinvent themselves to continue to make themselves more relevant. Specifically, colleges need to contend with making postsecondary education more affordable, breaking down the silos that exist within our K-12 institutions, and ensuring that the connection to career opportunities is addressed as well. 

Colleges and universities need to make issues such as food insecurity and the need for effective mental health and support services an integral part of their missions. Far too often, academia has been too slow to change, and that needs to be understood and addressed. But any suggestion that college simply “doesn’t matter” fails to consider the facts. We are living in turbulent times. An educated population is vitally important, and college matters now more than ever before.

A College Education Cannot Fix Income Inequality

Malia Marks Ph.D. Candidate, University of Cambridge

Dr. Litow insinuates that education directly causes graduates to have increased earning potential and civic engagement, leading to greater tax revenue and social good. Graduates indeed tend to earn more and be more engaged with their communities, but this can be explained by correlation, not causation. This is to say that traits like impulse control, self-esteem, and productivity confer success in many pursuits—from education to career, community, and family. Refining such traits is often a determinant of success in college, but they tend to be shaped significantly by early life experiences. 

College Cannot Cure the Wounds of Difficult Childhoods

As Rob Henderson outlined in his recent book, “Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class,” college does not heal the wounds of an unstable childhood, such as low self-esteem, short-term thinking, and substance abuse. Children from poor, unstable families are indeed less likely to go to college—but even when they do, they reap fewer of the benefits. The wage increase that low-income kids can expect after college is about a third of that seen by the children of wealthy families. Childhood instability makes it harder to cultivate the skills needed to enter college, perform well in classes and employment, and connect with one’s community. College alone cannot make young people feel loved and secure if the rest of their life lacks these attributes. 

University attendance is simply a covariate of a stable upbringing where children are emotionally supported and able to think in the long term. Claiming that college can solve inequality overlooks the depth of challenges faced by underprivileged youths. Thus, while I share Dr. Litow’s concern with poverty, any intervention must occur long before college.

Universities Need to Focus on Critical Thinking and Free Speech

After all, universities were never intended as class mobility accelerators—they were meant to teach young minds to think well. Thinking well is valuable; only by extension are college degrees. The militant orthodoxy that has taken hold of academia now stifles critical thought, supplanting universities’ original mission with one of indoctrination. Students are now taught what to think rather than how to think. 

Especially impacted are those lower-income students who do not see a place for themselves in the politicized halls of academia. Those of us who do stumble into the ivory tower are left facing ideological crusades. Ostracism and career decapitation loom over we who defy our peers’ luxury beliefs, but we few are not of the luxury class; our lives are not necessarily better for having gone to university.

We must revitalize free speech to save universities. Administrators must ensure that academics are never punished for voicing evidence-based opinions, no matter how unpopular. We academics must set feelings aside and evaluate ideas based on merit. We must champion the brave mavericks who lead by example, inspiring others to think more freely. This has always been the true source of academia’s value to society.

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Stanley Litow

Professor, Columbia University

Stanley S. Litow is a professor at Columbia University. He is the author of The Challenge for Business and Society: From Risk to Reward (2018) and co-author of Breaking Barriers: How P-Tech Schools Create a Pathway from High School to College to Career (2021). He previously served as President of the IBM International Foundation and as Deputy Chancellor of Schools for the City of New York. He was appointed to the SUNY Board of Trustees in June 2015 and reappointed in June 2021.

Malia Marks

Ph.D. Candidate, University of Cambridge

Malia is a Ph.D. candidate in criminology at the University of Cambridge. She holds a masters in criminology from Cambridge and a bachelors in psychology from Harvard. She enjoys using psychology to make sense of current events and political issues. She is co-founder of Diogenes Forum, a podcast and written platform for free speech from academics and experts.