Degree or No Degree, That is the Question.

Kelsey Pearl
Nov 17, 2022
5 min read

Edited: Hindsight is 20/20

It's taken ten years of adobe crashes, missed deadlines, bad work habits, and a bad case of imposter syndrome to get me here, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

To outsiders viewing my career through the lens of LinkedIn, my path on paper probably looks no different than others in my industry at first glance. At this point in my career, I have worked and grown within multiple industries as a creative to curate a portfolio full of work I am proud of, but I didn't always feel this way.

As a designer with 10 years of experience under my belt, nobody questions my pedigree anymore. Often, my peers and bosses assume I have a design degree based on my work ethic, experience, and ability to adapt and deliver (I recently created a new website in 2 weeks with Webflow- a platform I had no previous experience in).

I take it in stride now. Often, I even correct it, dropping the bomb that I am, in fact, a dropout. I find satisfaction in realizing my body of work represents me more than a degree ever could.

To young designers, or designers questioning whether they should take the leap into a new industry or not, consider your options. Read the rest of my original blog post for more of the age-old debate.

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And, by opposing, end them? [...] When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause. There’s the respect That makes calamity of so long life.

Whether or not I cherry-picked those lines from Hamlet’s famous soliloquy is not a question - I most certainly did. But they are as relevant as the title is punny.

In the Creative landscape today, is it really safe to say that talent, skill, and experience are the accrediting checkboxes employers and clients are looking for? Or is it the accompanying B.A. that, when missing, turns your entire resume and portfolio into BS?

The same question has been debated on almost every forum discussing graphic design and the digital freelance landscape, each one presenting pros, cons, and opinions from some of the most knowledgeable names in the business. Here's how they all answered my question:

It depends.

As a graphic designer actively looking for new opportunities and ways to advance not only my career but my working knowledge of the landscape I reside in, this is an underwhelming answer, to say the least.

I only have the experience I bring with me: some high school introductions that challenged and excited me, three semesters of "classical" training at a respected (but not my cup-of-tea) collegiate level, and (the now 10+) years of practical hands-on working experience I've gathered from the bottom-up. Does that make me less qualified than a graduate with similar working experience but a passing GPA?

I don’t mean to say that experience is everything. I greatly respect all my peers who have pursued and received their formal education. I've spent time and money on continuing my own education, always falling short of enrolling in another 4-year accredited university (though I have come very close). I'd like to think an active working history and proven environmental adaptability has to hold some equal weight in the recruiting category, but the truth of it, from personal experience and the research I have done beyond, is that it may not hold enough.

When two designers with similar portfolios and skills both interview well for the ever-increasing culture fit and have the same growth potential and independent outlook, companies will almost always pick the candidate with the degree. One study that collected data from 32,000 job postings found that graphic designers with degrees were hired 91% of the time.

With a less-than-average job outlook projected growth of 4% into 2026, that means increased competition for the already 266,300+ graphic designers and freelance graphic designers that were included in the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2016 Census. That’s nearly 10,500 more qualified candidates that graduate with a degree in Graphic Design per year. Talk about stiff competition.

Even with those odds, is there any downside to going for the degree? Actually, yes.

Mordy Golding, the Director of Content at everyone’s favorite business networking site, LinkedIn Learning, laid it out plainly. “The useful shelf life of a professional skill has shrunk to less than five years, which means gone are the days where the skills an employee acquired while getting their college degree are enough to sustain them throughout the expanse of their career.”

“

The useful shelf life of a professional skill

has shrunk to less than five years,

which means gone are the days where the skills

an employee acquired while getting their college degree

are enough to sustain them throughout

the expanse of their career.

”

Add in the fact that tuition rates are rising at an equal rate and you’ve got yourself a real financial dilemma. Take into consideration that the average salary of those same 32,000 job postings that required a degree was $65,011, compared to the $54,749 average salary offered for those jobs where no degree was required. An average boost of only $10,000 a year is slim when you can easily supplement income and experience with freelance and contract design work.

Play the long game.

In the end, it all comes down to the career goals you want to pursue. “In the freelance world, the graphic designer with the best portfolio and most competitive rates often wins,” says Justin Seeley on Lynda.com. If you want to test the waters and gain experience as a freelance graphic designer, you are more than capable of passing on the degree (and financial burden). After all, designing is a practice.

There is no shortage of ways to hone your skills and learn the keystrokes with the bevy of alternate and supplemental online skills and learning platforms. Skillshare and Udemy offer leading peer-led courses and lessons for free (or a small subscription cost), while other platforms like General Assembly and Hack Reactor offer more structured course instruction tailor-made for covetable and growing competitive skillsets for a much higher enrollment fee.

“

In the freelance world, the designer with

the best portfolio and most competitive rates often wins.

Until there’s a changing of the guard, college is still

a must-have credential in this environment.

”

If you want to work in the large-scale agency and advertising world, a degree is definitely still a must-have. “Until there’s a changing of the guard, college is still a must-have credential in this environment,” Seeley says. Design agencies tend to fall in line with non-creative companies when it comes to recruiting standards - especially if you want coveted titles like Creative or Art Director, a degree will help prepare you for the nuanced roles, but don't think it's a fast track to a fancy title and a team in tow. While a degree definitely helps get you in the door for consideration, your experience and portfolio will be the deciding factors.

In the common event that cost is a major factor in your decision, consider getting your feet wet with an Associate's degree at accredited institutions that facilitate easy transitions into Bachelor programs with related Universities.

If you’re like me trying to balance an active work life while still gaining valuable experience years, consider reputable online degrees. I recently learned of (and looked into) the SCAD eLearning program, offering the same coursework, networking, and credibility as on-campus students, on your own schedule (within their regular 10-week course structure) minus the hefty cost of on-campus or downtown Savannah housing.

So, the question still remains. Unfortunately, it's one that only you can answer for yourself.

I’d love to hear your take on the age-old debate.

Feel free to add your pros & cons (experience-based or otherwise) below!