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hat is the true value of a degree? BA, MBA, PhD, JD?

The more I understand how things work, I get that feeling that the major benefit of getting a degree is that it simply opens doors to opportunities that are otherwise unavailable.

When you go to an interview, the presence of your degree is just another tick in the check box of qualifications that show you belong. What’s surprising is once you get a job and start your career, the value of your degree drops dramatically. Who cares about your GPA, that you were honors, that you got a double major, what matters most at that point is your experience.

The other benefit comes from the instant credibility you earn that in some odd way shows that you are 100% qualified for your area of expertise, but does this make sense?

Just because you have a PhD you are qualified to be a professor? Just because you’re an MBA you should know how to handle finance and run a business? It seems that these degrees have allowed us to make overly general assumptions about the quality of people holding them and their capabilities.

What’s even more crazy, is that many current graduates are having trouble finding a job in this market and their solution is to go back to school and get another degree. But to what end?

It surely seems that all degrees are resulting in ridiculous amounts of debt, questionable assumptions, and no guarantees. So is it really worth it?