Who needs college anymore? Exploring alternative career pathways with Kathleen deLaski.

Kathleen deLaski, an education and workforce designer, author, and the founder of the Education Design Lab, brings a unique perspective to the discussion of alternative career pathways. Her work, which has served over 1,200 colleges, organizations, and economic regions, focuses on creating shorter, more affordable pathways for learners to achieve their financial goals. Kathleen's role as a senior advisor to Harvard University’s Project on Workforce, her teaching position at George Mason University, and her presidency of the deLaski Family Foundation further underscore her expertise in this field.

Her latest book, Who Needs College Anymore? Imagining a Future Where Degrees Don’t Matter, explores a pressing question: Is a college degree still the best path to a well-paying job? With rising concerns over the cost and ROI of traditional 4-year degrees, more families are questioning whether college is worth it. Through 150 interviews with K-12, postsecondary, and community stakeholders, Kathleen delves into alternative educational pathways, offering insights into how students are forging their own paths to high-paying careers without a traditional college degree.

At Riipen, we are deeply invested in the practical benefits of work-based learning (WBL). We believe that WBL can bridge the gap between education and employment, providing students with hands-on experience that leads to meaningful career opportunities. The following insights are summarized from our conversation with Kathleen about the ideas in her book and how they align with Riipen’s mission to provide students with real-world, project-based learning. We explored how educators use Riipen to create meaningful experiences that help students navigate and succeed in the ever-evolving workforce.

What was your process when writing this book?

Kathleen knew that she wanted to break down the silos in the school-to-work pipeline, and to do that, she wanted to have a human-centered design. So, each chapter would look at the unmet needs of each user, whether they be learners, high school students, or college students, and try to describe what was missing for them. And that was the 'aha' moment in unlocking what needs to happen when you discover what they're missing. 

Your book argues that a four-year degree may no longer be the best path for many students. What are the key factors driving this shift in higher education?

Three major trends are converging, prompting a growing question about whether the traditional four-year degree is still considered the pathway to success. With rising costs and increasing doubts about its value, many are now questioning whether a college degree remains the best option for students after high school, especially when affordability is a significant concern. 

As it stands, the three trends are degree affordability, degree relevancy, and AI development. 

There's growing concern about how technology and AI are changing how we learn. AI challenges the traditional notion that you must spend four years in a classroom to earn a degree. With readily available information, we can quickly become experts by leveraging AI to synthesize knowledge.

Increasingly, learners and families cite that the reason to go to college is to get a job. But now, colleges are less able to deliver on that. So, it challenges faculty to keep up and provide relevant content for learners to get jobs. Now, we must articulate what is still valuable about college if skill-learning is acquired in other ways. 

How do you think academic institutions are trying to bridge the gap now that that divide has been brought up?

Well, they've been working on this for a while. For example, the organization Kathleen founded, The Education Design Lab, raised this question about 12 years ago. They created a design challenge across multiple universities, with their employers, to ask: How can the university access and help students understand what they're learning and how it translates beyond the classroom? 

One of Kathleen’s mentors used to say that 95% of learning happens outside the classroom, so they wanted to discover how we could capture that and get the learner to understand it so they can claim it as expertise and skill when hired by an employer.

Kathleen argues that institutions are trying to offer more explicit training around durable (or soft skills). In her book, she talks about how they're also trying to increase the offer of work-based experience while students are in college because employers are demanding it. When Kathleen interviewed employers, almost all said, 'Career experience is more important than the degree. A degree is nice, but I can't actually assess their skills unless they have experience.'

Colleges should make work experience their value proposition. If more schools offered hands-on opportunities, the question of whether college is worth it would fade. Take Northeastern University as an example: Their co-op programs help students gain paid apprenticeships, allowing them to pivot if they don't enjoy their field. Graduates with this experience are highly employable, contributing to Northeastern's high job placement rate.

However, many colleges lack the resources to offer similar programs. That's where platforms like Riipen step in, providing the necessary outreach and support for schools that lack the ability or infrastructure to do so independently.

Your book mentions Riipen as an example of work-based learning. How do platforms like Riipen help students and employers collaborate to shape the future of education and employment?

Bringing in a third party to address student needs creates an exciting, collaborative process where you can adjust and improve as you go. This allows for a strong sense of community between professors and students, with a helpful feedback loop that enhances the experience.

At the University of North Dakota, the vice provost mentioned that getting 10% of faculty on board wasn't difficult, as many had ideas on how to make the process work, especially in connecting students with employers. Though professors require significant effort to curate, grade, and integrate this work into the class, they were inspired by what students gained from the experience, pushing them to take it further. And it's thanks to programs like Riipen. 

Along this train of thought, can you give a specific example of a professor who went above and beyond in the Riipen platform to give their student the best opportunity in this current working environment?

Professors using Riipen’s platform are eager to connect students with employers because they see the real learning impact. For example, a marketing professor at the University of North Dakota shared with Kathleen how a student gained international experience working with a startup entrepreneur. The University of North Dakota researched markets in Philadelphia for a Canadian company, offering a hands-on experience far beyond what case studies could provide. The professor was impressed by how much more valuable this real-world work was for the student and found the process exhilarating for both. 

The University of North Dakota wanted to create work-based learning experiences for all students, especially since the area lacks large businesses for traditional internships. The ability to offer remote, national, and even international opportunities was crucial for them.

How can educational institutions better serve first-generation students and individuals from underrepresented or lower-income backgrounds to help prepare them for a rapidly changing job market, as they might not have access to the same tools as someone from a different background?

This is why Kathleen emphasizes the unintended consequences of requiring more job experience after college. It often favors students with access to unpaid internships or industry connections. In her book, Kathleen mentions that 65% of students work to pay for school, and 40% work full-time jobs unrelated to their career goals. While these jobs help build soft skills like customer service, durability, and empathy, they don't provide the career-specific experience needed to stand out in specific fields like healthcare or cybersecurity. 

Studies show that your first job post-college significantly impacts your career trajectory, and lacking that initial experience can hinder earnings and career progression.

Considering the challenges learners face in accessing equal opportunities and the growing interest from professors in platforms like Riipen to provide more hands-on experience, do you believe this shift makes college degrees less relevant, or can degrees and work-based learning coexist in today's world?

Kathleen believes that they will coexist. The four-year degree is not going away. It'll still be around for people who can afford it or for those professions that require it, like medicine, accounting, or nursing.

However, she argues that we will be moving towards a step-ladder approach, where many careers, even those she mentioned, will require a shorter form of college to earn a meaningful credential.

This process will allow all of us to weave in and out of college throughout our working lives. For example, you could order an IT certificate instead of returning to school and getting a degree. Kathleen suggests that it'll become less degree-centric and more skills-centric over time. 

Is this potential shift driven by the current economy, where years of experience are now required even for entry-level positions?

Many entry-level jobs now require 2-3 years of experience, which most college graduates don’t have. This demand for experience is driven by society’s desire for quick results, similar to skipping commercials with a remote. We’re seeing faster ways to reach career goals without traditional college paths. Even resumes rely more on skills and experience, with AI scanning for those rather than just a degree.

What do you hope readers will take away from your book, and what actions do you think are most urgent for educators and policymakers to take to prepare students for the future of work?

The key takeaway from Kathleens’ book is to rethink college as a continuum of offerings, not just a two —or four-year degree. Short-term certificates, high school courses, apprenticeships, boot camps, and nonprofit programs like Year Up are growing in demand, but they’re often underfunded and lack the prestige of traditional degrees. Why shouldn’t these options receive the same recognition and funding? The time is right for this shift. 

Her book also includes discussion guides tailored to different stakeholders, such as colleges, employers, and families, to help them understand this framework.

‍Kathleen’s book is now available for purchase.

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