There has long been a push for students to attend college due to the perceived value of a college degree. Recently, however, there has been an increasing pushback against 鈥渨orthless鈥� degrees, ones which don鈥檛 afford those holding them the perceived economic advantages college is supposed to. This has been enhanced by a new advanced by the Department of Education, one which threatens to revoke federal funding from programs which do not provide sufficient value to students.
This is part of a broader and ongoing debate, especially as states advance their own bills with similar aims, notably . In this article, we鈥檙e going to look at what these bills do, and whether worthless degrees are something you need to take into consideration when you plan out your own college journey. Let鈥檚 jump right in!
Accountability for 鈥淲orthless鈥� Degrees
While this debate has been ongoing for quite some time, it has entered the spotlight again due to a regulatory update from the Department of Education. This proposal, scheduled to take effect in July of 2026, will end federal funding (both directly and in the form of student loans and financial aid) for college programs where graduates earn less than those with only a high school diploma.
If a program must fail this test for two consecutive years to lose funding. Separately, if more than half of a college鈥檚 programs fail this test, then it too will lose all access to federal funding. This would need to happen for two consecutive years as well, meaning that actual funding shutoffs are still over the horizon, though they are now an option that schools must consider.
Based on these standards, roughly 650,000 students are currently enrolled in a program that would fail these criteria. Approximately half of these students are enrolled in for-profit institutions. These regulations cover certificates, two year, and four year degree programs, at both traditional and for-profit institutions.
While these regulations are yet to come into effect, some states are moving to introduce their own enhanced standards. Indiana, in particular, has proposed which would allow the state to simply end these programs at state universities and community colleges, if graduates of them do not earn more, on average, than those with only a high school diploma.
While Indiana鈥檚 bill is the most developed, other states are considering pursuing action of this kind as well, including both Nebraska and New Hampshire. There are differences in how states are pursuing these, but it is increasingly seen as an option to regulate what degrees are offered.
The degrees impacted by this in Indiana are highly varied. Based on Inside Higher Ed鈥檚 reporting, they include programs including (but not limited to):
- Ball State University鈥檚 bachelor鈥檚 degree in dance
- Purdue Northwest鈥檚 bachelor鈥檚 in computer software and media
- University of Southern Indiana鈥檚 master鈥檚 in mental and social health services
This then gets to the meat of the problem: what actually makes a college degree (or certificate program) worthless?
What Makes a College Degree Worthless?
This is the question underlying this whole discussion, and one which is somewhat difficult to give a straight answer to. There are certainly some degrees which everyone agrees are worthless; certificates that don鈥檛 qualify you to do anything, or programs which do not give you the skills they purport to. Other programs, however, often fall into a grey area.
The main trouble stems from using income as the sole barometer, especially as certain fields are traditionally quite underpaid. Dance (to use an example of a degree from above) is often quite a low paying field, yet increasingly requires a degree to enter professionally. Does this make the degree itself worthless? Many dancers would disagree.
This is further complicated because there are multiple different definitions of a worthless degree. The one used federally is a degree that has you earning less than or equivalent to peers without one, but some use the term to mean any degree earning less than certain benchmarks, or even earning less relative to their peers.
This is often used in reference to degrees like English or art history, subjects which often have an unclear career path, and do not offer a simple road to a future career as is promised in a business degree. You can still get jobs with these degrees, everything from teaching to academia to fields entirely unrelated, but the stigma remains.
Our Definition of a Worthless Degree
We鈥檙e going to solve this problem of conflicting definitions that nobody agrees on by adding our own definition to the pile. We realize this may not help generally, but this is how we define a worthless degree when advising our own students on what opportunities they should pursue:
- A worthless degree is one which does not return the value you invest in it.
This is perhaps overly simplistic, but what we emphasize to students is that the value of a degree is what you learn from it, the opportunities it gives you, and the future it sets you up for. I have friends from undergrad who majored in English and who went on to medical school, or who majored in chemistry and now work in human resources. As has been pointed out many times, while your college degree can inform your future career, many times it doesn鈥檛.
The most valuable college degrees are the ones which give you valuable skills; how to synthesize information, how to learn new skills quickly, how to adapt to novel situations and come up with solutions to problems you haven鈥檛 encountered before. This is the value of a traditional education, even for degrees which aren鈥檛 directly related to a career.
So what degrees do we find valueless? Often those offered by for profit institutions, ones which have major promises and deliver little. Many masters degrees fall into this category as well, unless they are directly necessary for a particular career or qualification. It is often hard to blanket declare certain degrees or programs worthless; many of these are going to come down to value judgements, and depend on what a particular student is looking for.
How This Impacts You
When you are planning for your own degree, and own future, there is often a pressure to major in specific fields. Computer science, engineering, business, based on the thought that other fields will not lead to lucrative careers, or even careers at all. Now, some degrees do have more direct paths to employment than others, and some students want this certainty. Others may genuinely desire a career in engineering or computer science.
Our point in all of this is that you should not feel pushed to major in a field which doesn鈥檛 interest you at all because you think it is necessary for a future career. Studying a subject that interests you and picking up skills, combined with internships and networking, can lead to great career outcomes as well.
The worth of a degree is determined by what you get out of it, and for top colleges, none of the degrees they offer are worthless. This does not mean they are all going to lead to equivalent starting salaries, but consultants are simply paid more than physicists or paleontologists.
Some degrees will take more work to connect with a career, and you do need certain degrees for certain careers, though this is mostly the case for fields like engineering, where a professional certification is required. You can enter the field of business from many different starting points, and see great success in doing so.
That said, we do find that for profit institutions tend to offer truly worthless degrees, and commend this legislative initiative for cutting these off from federal funding. Students attending accredited and well-vetted institutions, however, are well positioned regardless of the degree they pursue.
Final Thoughts
With college being as expensive as it is, it makes sense to worry about the investment you are making, and whether the degree you are paying for is worth it. As with any investment you can and should research your options carefully, to understand what you are paying for, and what you get out of it. We hope this article has given you insight into what makes a degree worthwhile, and why some are not.
If you are looking for help evaluating colleges and the degrees they offer, and how each may work for you, then 吃瓜官网 can help. Just as you鈥檇 speak with a broker about investing, so too can 吃瓜官网 help you understand what you鈥檙e getting into when investing in a college education, and how you can get the best returns on this particular investment. Schedule a free consultation today to learn more, we鈥檙e always happy to hear from you.
