The 1,200 Year Rise & Fall of the College Degree

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A college degree doesn’t mean anything anymore. But that’s normal.
For most of humankind, universities were never about a career path.
You didn’t attend lectures everyday just to get an unpaid internship.
You attended to better yourself.
The idea of using a degree as a gateway to a higher salary is exceptionally new.
When higher education was created over a thousand years ago, it was all about the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge’s sake.
It’s only in the last 100 years or so that college became a stable way for young people to enter the workforce.
And with AI making it easier to shortcut your way through a homework assignment, the importance of college has come into question.
Yet, many believe that even with colleges on shaky ground, the future of education is brighter than ever.
They say access to free education, like YouTube, improved technology, and a healthy wariness of the gig economy could see humans return to a pursuit of knowledge for knowledge’s sake.


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