FIU introduced new bachelor\u2019s degrees in data science and artificial intelligence<\/a> in 2024 and in May, the Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media launched a new master\u2019s in animation and game development<\/a>.<\/p>\n Across the nation, the computer and information sciences and support services field is also growing. The National Center for Education Statistics<\/a> reported it doubled from 47,400 degrees to 108,500 between 2011-12 and 2021-22.\u00a0<\/p>\n It is understandable that more technology-related degrees are being created and awarded, given the increasing societal shift towards A.I. and digital systems. But a degree in A.I. only makes sense until you realize A.I. can do it for you.\u00a0<\/p>\n Already, 7 in 10 Americans believe higher education is going in the wrong direction<\/a>. This is up 56% from a 2020 Pew Research Center survey, around the time A.I. skyrocketed in the public sphere.\u00a0<\/p>\n And in 2025, only 35% of 18-35-year-olds cited college as \u201cvery important,<\/a>\u201d compared to 75% in 2010.<\/p>\n But A.I. is not the only culprit behind the decline.<\/p>\n Employers are no longer as seduced by the fancy calligraphy on a diploma. Instead, they want experience. And experience can be developed miles away from a college campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n My brother, Jean-Luc Abito, a computer science graduate from Palm Beach Atlantic University, recently applied for a game developer position at Roblox. Already overqualified, and not because of college, he did not sit in a Zoom meeting having his resume and educational history analyzed word for word.<\/p>\n Instead, the interviewers asked for a display of his skills. Where he went to college and what he graduated with hardly mattered because careers are increasingly becoming skill-based.<\/p>\n \u201cLearn a skill and make money from it,\u201d is what my cousin, Dje Kouadio, likes to say.<\/p>\n He was studying marketing at Palm Beach Atlantic University before he pivoted away from college, finding that learning about marketing was not the same as actually doing it.<\/p>\n And in today\u2019s world, you can do just about anything.<\/p>\n Without a formal degree, he successfully markets clothing and e-commerce brands and Roblox games. Marketing, like other creative fields, does not require a knowledge-based formal education. If you can learn and apply the skill, you are set. You\u2019ve saved yourself four years of waiting for a degree.\u00a0<\/p>\n There are also many different pathways to success nowadays, with passive income and investing growing in popularity, especially among young men<\/a>.<\/p>\n About 56% of Gen Z in the U.S. own some investments<\/a>, with cryptocurrency<\/a> among the most popular. Investing and crypto do not require degrees, but you can succeed in all the same, perhaps even more than with the slow, sometimes uncertain payoff of a college education.<\/p>\n Degrees, like newspapers and paper money, are becoming old news as society evolves away from traditionality.<\/p>\n But that isn\u2019t to say college and degrees will become completely obsolete. As an institute, college isn\u2019t going anywhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n It may just need to evolve too.<\/p>\n DISCLAIMER:<\/p>\n The opinions presented on this page do not represent the views of the PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect the perspectives of contributing writers and\/or university community members.<\/p>\n About Post Author<\/p>\n
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