Elon Musk says that skills are more important than degrees. There is truth to this, but the implication is that degrees do not impart skills. That doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.
Musk and others like to hold up outliers such as Gates and Jobs (and Musk) as examples of what one can do without a degree. But, there are far more examples of individuals without degrees that aren’t super-wealthy tech-innovators or millionaires.
Less than 5% of households in the US qualify as “millionaire” status (net assets of at least $1 million). Of the Forbes 400 richest people (out of roughly 160 million workers) in America, 63 don’t have a college degree. That represents about 15% of the top 0.00025% of the population.
Meanwhile, higher education continues to track with higher median income.
I’m happy for those that were motivated and skilled (and lucky) enough to make millions without higher education. But, it is irresponsible for the fortunate few that have been wildly successful without higher education to advocate that education is unnecessary or irrelevant.
The View from the Armchair 