Soundcloud artists who eventually become Grammy-winning musicians. Content creators who have international brands partnering with them on global campaigns. Fan fiction authors who’ve hustled to a publishing book deal with no formal training.
It makes you wonder: in this day and age, are degrees worth it anymore?
Are they worth three to four years of your life? Are they worth every single dime?
It’s hard to give an objective answer, but we’d be inclined to say: yes, degrees are worth it — but only if you’re using the material properly. Only if you take the initiative to do more than academic courses.
Here’s what we mean.
The downfall of the Ivy League brand
Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and more.
For a long time, parents worldwide longed for their children to be worth the exclusivity of these prestigious Ivy League schools. Today, however, these schools seem to have fallen out of favour with many — students and employers alike.
According to a 2025 Forbes survey, four in 10 employers believe Ivy League schools do a worse job of preparing entry-level job candidates now compared to five years ago, while three in 10 said the preparation was about the same.
“Over the past five years, Ivy Leagues have become environments where groupthink is encouraged, dissent is discouraged,” one respondent wrote. “Graduates emerge lacking the resilience, adaptability, and practical skills necessary for success in competitive industries.”
It’s changed education in America — and the world — as a whole.
“Elementary schools and high schools changed too,” David Brooks, who has been awarded more than 30 honorary degrees from American colleges and universities, wrote in The Atlantic. “The time dedicated to recess, art, and shop class was reduced, in part so students could spend more of their day enduring volleys of standardised tests and Advanced Placement classes.”
The point we’re making here isn’t that intelligence is overrated or that degrees aren’t worth it.
The reason why Ivy League schools aren’t as credible in creating talent as they once used to be isn’t because the courses delivered aren’t of high quality, but rather because there’s an overemphasis on intelligence and the lack of such in noncognitive skills — communication, interpersonal skills, teamwork, and more — that the workforce requires.
These are the kinds of skills your professors can’t spoon-feed.
The pressure of getting into an Ivy League school meant students across elementary, middle, and high schools invested less time in hobbies. Source: AFP
So…back to the question
Are degrees worth it?
Yes, they are. This isn’t some sign that you get to skip your classes. The theory gained within the classroom is most effective when you put it into practice, but at the same time, it’s hard to practice well without having a theory to back it up.
Universities like Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the University of Notre Dame Australia balance theoretical curricula with compulsory hands-on components to develop the whole individual beyond textbook words.
It’s important to explore the world outside of academics, too.
You can get involved with community events and organisations, find hobbies and develop projects, and use learning resources that aren’t just university-bound.
After all, where’s the fun in learning if you’re just stuck in a classroom all day?
4 graduates share how they engaged with the real world
Formerly a civil engineering graduate, Pooria Nobahari is now a marketing manager. Source: Pooria Nobahari
Pooria Nobahari
University: Vlerick Business School
Degree: Master’s Degree in International Management and Strategy
When Pooria Nobahari from Iran decided to dust off familial expectations and pursue his master’s abroad, the one aspect he loved most about his business education was the overseas trips.
Nobahari visited universities and companies in China, Hong Kong, and Japan, learning about cultures, hidden opportunities, and the secret sauce of “how business is done.”
“Most importantly, we learned how people think differently,” he says. “It was a fantastic experience.”
That hands-on aspect of Vlerick’s programmes was one of the main draws for Nobahari to uproot his life to Brussels in the first place.
“It was extremely exciting – we didn’t have exams for most of our courses,” he says. “We always had to work in teams on real-life challenges. Companies would come to us presenting these problems, and we’ll work on it together to solve it. You can really see all the dynamics that’s going on with the customers, market, company, competitors, and trends.”
Are degrees worth it as a film student? Desmond Loh believes it is, as long as the curriculum is practical. Source: Desmond Loh
Desmond Loh
University: California State University, Northridge
Degree: BA in Cinema and Television Arts
Desmond Loh from Malaysia believes that it wasn’t his classes that helped him develop his skills as a producer.
What truly helped him: getting on an actual film set. In his final year project, Loh and his team wrote, shot, and produced a film called “GLODOK 98,” a story following a struggling couple in Jakarta, Indonesia, during the violent protests and financial crisis in 1998.
“The most challenging aspect in a student film is always the pre-production and production,” Loh says. “None of the professors taught us this — but for my job, let’s say I found a filming location, you need to know how much it costs, when can you film in it. You get the permits, get the insurance.”
So, Loh’s advice? “Pick a film school with a programme that’s more practical — my school is more production-heavy,” he says. “If you get the chance to have more hands-on experiences, you should do it.”
“The students needed to be independent. What the programme really taught us was, ‘okay, how do we make a film when there’s nobody to guide us?’”
At first, making friends in the Netherlands wasn’t easy for Andreanto. But before long, he found a fun bunch of international friends who were always up for grocery shopping trips or board game sessions. Source: Gregorius Hans Andreanto
Gregorius Hans Andreanto
University: Taylor’s University
Degree: BS in Computer Science
Gregorius Hans Andreanto’s original plan was to pursue a civil engineering degree, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he fell down a rabbit hole: learning Python. That led him to join a computer science club in secondary school, and he never looked back.
Andreanto moved from Indonesia to Malaysia to pursue computer science at Taylor’s, a choice he made after he learned of two different opportunities beyond the classroom.
The first was the Agents of Tech, a club that hosted and offered competitions and workshops for students to build a 21st-century tech skillset. “It’s a great environment if you want to keep learning and challenging yourself,” he says.
The second was the exchange programme. He spent six months in the Netherlands at the Saxion University of Applied Sciences.
“Europe is known for more advanced studies, and that’s definitely true,” says Andreanto. “At first, I thought I could handle it the same way I managed my studies at Taylor’s. But it was tough. For my first final project, I scored 57 out of 100 — and the passing mark was 55.”
It’s through experiences like those that you actually grow.
“Once you have the programming foundation, just try to start projects. You don’t have to be perfect, it’s better to start and just pick up from there,” Andreanto says. “You can join competitions like hackathons, it’s a great chance to build your portfolio that you can show to recruiters.
Deric Yee didn’t want to work as a number cruncher in corporate, something that many fresh graduates today relate to. Source: Deric Yee
Deric Yee
University: Lancaster University
Degree: BSc (Hons) Accounting and Finance
Deric Yee caught the “start-up” founder bug when studying finance and venture capital at Lancaster University, and it continued to gnaw at him when he returned home to work in the industry. Crunching numbers and market research reports — all things that made him dissatisfied.
With that, Yee took the initiative to transform his career. He taught himself coding and endured a few failed projects to discover the one that finally stuck: Sigma School, a coding boot camp.
“You don’t need a degree to succeed in tech – you need skills, proof of work, and the right network,” Yee, a finance graduate, says. “That’s exactly what we provide at Sigma School. I built it to be the kind of learning experience I wish I had – one that prioritises real-world projects, mentorship, and a direct path to employment.”
