Is a college degree still worth it? Welcome to The Marketing Accelerator Podcast featuring three insights in about three minutes. I'm Drew Dinkelacker. I walk alongside business leaders, I speak truth to them, and then guide them on their marketing journey. If you have a marketing conundrum, let's talk. Today, I'm speaking with Dr. Cedric Howard. He's president of Howard Executive Consulting, where he leverages his three decades of higher education experience to empower leadership and elevate their impact. Cedric, higher education is rapidly evolving. The wave of AI is coming. Is a college degree still worth it in today's job market?
Dr. Cedric Howard: Great question, Drew. The simple answer is yes. A college degree is still very much worth it and relevant, even in the age of AI. While it's true that the technical skills can be learned outside of the traditional higher education ecosystem, college offers a foundation that is much deeper. It teaches students how to think critically, to collaborate, and communicate their ideas in a way that never goes out of style. So I think that is the relevant nature and value of what higher education offers. The degree also validates that a person's able to learn at a high level, which I think is key to employers seeking to justify the credentials of a particular employee.
Drew: Can you share with us what skillsets students are being trained on that makes college worthwhile?
Dr. Howard: I think colleges are beginning to teach and train students on critical skills at a strategic level. That includes data literacy. It includes the ability to use ethics and to help with coding and prompting engineering. I know in our particular institution and institutions I'm working with, they're really beginning to see synergy in groups and looking at AI from the perspective of how it's going to help expedite and make business functions more efficient. And so, they're teaching that application to our students so that when they reach you as employers, they're prepared to apply practical application to the theories that they've learned in the classroom.
Drew: So, it seems like higher education is going to have to quickly adjust to all of these changes.
Dr. Howard: I 100% agree. Higher education must become more agile to stay relevant. I think the pace of change in AI, technology, and a job market is very fast for our traditional curriculum cycles. And we must expedite our curriculum development, but we must do it in a line and in partnership with industry. I think that is the key of what we're seeking to do. That means that we must be more relevant and understanding of real-time skillsets, micro-credentials, experiential learning, and opportunities that employers are seeking will be critically important for us as an industry as we remain agile in moving forward to make sure that we're not minimizing rigor, but we're really making it more relevant to the students to empower them to be powerful workers for the future.
Drew: The skill of adjusting and pivoting certainly applies to students. It applies to colleges, businesses, and all their employees. The Marketing Accelerator Podcast is a production of MarketingAccelerator.com, where business leaders gain confidence in their marketing efforts and marketers turn into high-performing leaders. If you have a marketing challenge keeping you awake at night, let's talk. I'm Drew Dinkelacker.