Misconception #88: The increased number of jobs requiring college is proof that we need more people to graduate from college

The pro-schooling crowd loves to cite job statistics that seem to prove their points. When we went through our most recent recession, people without a college degree were hit a lot harder than people who possessed that piece of paper. The primary problem with these kinds of statistics is that people make assumptions related to cause.


Society has become highly discriminatory towards those who pursue an education outside of the schools. There is no question that employers are more likely to hire people who graduated college, but that is not proof that they should. There is nothing that can be learned in school that can't be learned elsewhere. By turning college into a requirement, we are effectively establishing that we value schooling more than education.

Many people insist that the stats prove that everybody needs to go to college. There are even attempts to subsidize the process to ensure accessibility to everyone. In reality, the stats presented do not make a compelling case for the value of college. They can be easily explained as a tool for discrimination rather than a tool for developing necessary job skills. Arguments could certainly be made that increasing the number of college graduates would make life more difficult for those who learn elsewhere, and that some jobs requiring college would increase their requirements. The average college graduate would likely be worse off because college would no longer be sufficient for employment. From a societal perspective, a harder push for college could actually prove to be detrimental.