Welcome to our curated collection of college degree quotes! Whether you’re a recent graduate, a current student, or someone considering pursuing higher education, these quotes encapsulate the essence of the college experience and the value of earning a degree.
A college degree is more than just a piece of paper; it represents years of hard work, dedication, and personal growth. It opens doors to new opportunities, expands horizons, and empowers individuals to pursue their passions and achieve their dreams. From renowned scholars to influential leaders, the significance of a college education is echoed throughout history and across cultures.
In this compilation, you’ll find words of wisdom, encouragement, and insight from various voices who have experienced the transformative power of education firsthand. Whether you’re seeking inspiration, motivation, or simply a reminder of the importance of learning, these quotes will resonate with you. Feel free to copy them, pair them with images, or use stylish fonts to enhance their impact.
One of the big concerns I have is that most of the HR departments in a lot of companies are hiring away from creativity and they don’t know it. For instance, they are requiring everybody to have a college degree. The most creative people I know couldn’t deal with college. Nolan Bushnell
I have an architecture degree; that’s what my college degree is in. And that sucked. I started doing Web and CD-ROM development really early on, and then that grew into being an art director and doing advertising work. Jonathan Hickman
Really, the potential for, first of all, any college graduate today is enormously good. These are good times for anyone with a college degree today, particularly African Americans. With a college degree today, you really breach the unemployment rate. Alexis Herman
Do you realize that if we could increase just by 50 percent the number of adults who have a college degree, it would add $5 billion to the economy and it would result in a net income to the state of Arkansas of $340 million a year? Mike Huckabee
My father worked road construction, and I worked my way through college doing road construction. I was the first male in my family to have a college degree. Bill Hagerty
It is virtually impossible to compete in today’s global economy without a college degree. Bobby Scott
When I started out in the duck-call business, my college buddies would come in and say, ‘Robertson, you have a college degree. What are you doing?’ Then they drove away saying, ‘What an idiot!’ Thirty-five years later, they’re saying, ‘The sucker’s a genius!’ Si Robertson
My mom is surely worried that the fact that I don’t have a college degree will impact my chances of finding a bride. Ritesh Agarwal
I have achieved something in sports but there’s nothing like a college degree. Hidilyn Diaz
Coming from a large immigrant family, my parents didn’t encourage a lot of ‘play’ when I was growing up. It was hard to get my Dad to even sit down to watch television with us (he’d watch it standing up, always ready to go do something more productive). Downtime was discouraged, as was any college degree that wasn’t law, medicine or business. Sarah Cooper
We know that a college degree is rapidly becoming the price of admission to the global economy. Evan Bayh
I can see a day soon where you’ll create your own college degree by taking the best online courses from the best professors from around the world – some computing from Stanford, some entrepreneurship from Wharton, some ethics from Brandeis, some literature from Edinburgh – paying only the nominal fee for the certificates of completion. Thomas Friedman
I am increasingly unimpressed by works of art that require a college degree to understand. I think that art should be for everyone. And people should be moved by it. Patrick deWitt
When I’m talking about the white working class, here’s what I’m defining: high school degree, no more, and working in a blue-collar job or a low-skilled service job. When I’m talking about the white, upper-middle class, I’m talking about people who work in the professions or managerial jobs and have at least a college degree. Charles Murray
The United States is an outlier in the size and scope of its loan infrastructure; in many peer countries, higher education is seen as a public good and a college degree is low-cost or free. Annie Lowrey
As tough as it is for many college graduates to get their planned careers on track, it could be worse: They could be trying to find a job without a college degree. Elaine Chao
The cost of a college degree has skyrocketed out of control. Wayne Messam
What I bring to Congress is not a college degree or credentials, what I’m going to bring to Congress is the wisdom of lived experience. Ritchie Torres
You don’t need a four-year college degree if you have burning ambition or a great plan. Alan Gerry
My mother was the first woman in the county in Indiana where we were born, in Jay County, to have a college degree. She was educated as a pianist and she wanted to concertize, but when the war came she was married, had a family, so she started teaching. Twyla Tharp
Even though my mom was talented and had a college degree, she lived in the era when the conventional wisdom in Dallas was that my dad worked, she was supposed to stay home and take care of the kids, and that was that. There really weren’t other opportunities for her, and most of them were volunteer opportunities. Cecile Richards
Our great history has been that people came to Michigan because you didn’t have to have a college degree to get a good-paying job. Consequently, we have got a larger number of our population that right now are facing outsourcing, et cetera, without higher or advanced degrees. Jennifer Granholm
It’s our privilege to work with College Track students as they chart their course toward a college degree – they bring persistence, creativity, and extraordinary discipline throughout their academic journey. Laurene Powell Jobs
But boxing was my profession. I had to go back the second time because I was broke and I couldn’t just go and get a college degree and earn it. I had too many bills, too many families. George Foreman
After 9/11, the amount of applicants the FBI received increased exponentially. Whereas you used to require a college degree, and it was a small group of people who were just out of college, after 9/11, it changed. Aaron Tveit
A high school and college degree are linked to greater employment prospects, higher earning potential, and the ability to contribute more to our communities. Lynn Schusterman
This idea of ‘New Collar’ says for the jobs of the future here, there are many in technology that can be done without a four-year college degree and, therefore, ‘New Collar’ not ‘Blue Collar,’ ‘White Collar.’ It’s ‘New Collar.’ Ginni Rometty
I don’t have a college degree, and my father didn’t have a college degree, so when my son, Zachary, graduated from college, I said, ‘My boy’s got learnin’!’ Robin Williams
My college degree was in theater. But the real reason, if I have any success in that milieu, so to speak, is because I spent a lot of years directing, I spent a lot of years behind the camera. Alton Brown
The obsessive focus on a college degree has served neither taxpayers nor students well. Only 35 percent of students starting a four-year degree program will graduate within four years, and less than 60 percent will graduate within six years. Students who haven’t graduated within six years probably never will. Alex Tabarrok
Universities used to prepare young adults for the real world. I dare say the graduates today go in without a clue and graduate without a clue. It’s time to acknowledge the college degree is not worth what it was in the past. Times are changing, and so is the way we prepare our youth to survive in a competitive world. Dale Archer
A college degree is the key to realizing the American dream, well worth the financial sacrifice because it is supposed to open the door to a world of opportunity. Dan Rather
You don’t need a college degree to be a good carpenter, welder, plumber, auto mechanic, member of the armed forces, or firefighter. Kathy Szeliga
I don’t have a college degree. Nick Tosches
On education, in order to ensure that America remains a world leader, we must create an educated, skilled workforce in the vital areas of science, math, engineering and information technology. At the same time, we must give every student access to a college degree. John F. Tierney
Just because I don’t have a college degree doesn’t mean I am not smart! Emma Stone
Being considerate of others will take your children further in life than any college degree. Marian Wright Edelman
I used to walk around saying that I’m just another black man without a college degree. Jayson Blair
People who graduate are more resilient financially, and they weather economic downturns better than people who don’t graduate. And, throughout their lives, people who graduate are more likely to be economically secure, more likely to be healthy, and more likely to live longer. Face it: A college degree puts a lot in your corner. Elizabeth Warren
A fatherless boy raised in Jim Crow Texas, my dad was a tenacious autodidact, the first in his family to get a college degree. Thomas Chatterton Williams
Our promise to our children should be this: if you do well in school, we will pay for you to obtain a college degree. Ruth Ann Minner
Access to a college degree is critical. John Sharp
Coming from losing my dream of playing professional football, not having a college degree at the time and looking to jump into the business world at a young age was pretty daunting for me. Lewis Howes
Let me ask you: Should only children of the wealthy have access to quality early education? Should only children of the wealthy have access to a college degree? The answer – the only answer – is: no. Lincoln Chafee
I’m not even an engineer. I don’t have a college degree; I hire guys with college degrees. Woody Norris
Having a college degree gave me the opportunity to be… well-rounded. Also, the people I met at the university, most of them are still my colleagues now. People I’ve known for years are all in the industry together. Jon Secada
For me specifically, it was important to graduate. In my family, I was one of the first graduates. My mom did not have a college degree. My dad did not have a college degree. Brian Acton
Once I started down the path of co-founding Image Comics, and even co-publisher, it just seems a lot more like a career path that isn’t that atypical for someone with a college degree. Whereas, someone who draws comic books as a freelancer and lives from job to job is a more unusual story. Jim Lee
By the way, intelligence to me isn’t just being book-smart or having a college degree; it’s trusting your gut instincts, being intuitive, thinking outside the box, and sometimes just realizing that things need to change and being smart enough to change it. Tabatha Coffey
At AT&T, I learned an awful lot about people, and how important it is to have the right people in the right jobs. And when I say ‘right people,’ I’m not talking about their college degree or work history; I’m talking about things like bearing – How does this person interact with other people? Can he or she talk to you and not tick you off? Edward Whitacre, Jr.
I’m definitely somebody who wants a college degree. My attitude is, if I’m going to do it I’m going to go full in. Mary Cain
Yes, college tuition is a problem for many young Americans, but it is a problem exacerbated by government subsidies and an overwhelming demand to get a college degree, despite high dropout rates. Charlie Kirk
Even getting a college degree does not guarantee a minimal knowledge of U.S. history. Max Boot
I’m not going to lie – it’s insulting to be praised for being a ‘woman’ with ‘no college degree.’ Sophia Amoruso
We should all feel confident in our intelligence. By the way, intelligence to me isn’t just being book-smart or having a college degree; it’s trusting your gut instincts, being intuitive, thinking outside the box, and sometimes just realizing that things need to change and being smart enough to change it. Tabatha Coffey
The only trouble here is they won’t let us study enough. They are so afraid we shall break down and you know the reputation of the College is at stake, for the question is, can girls get a college degree without ruining their health? Ellen Swallow Richards
I do intend to achieve my education goals and obtain my college degree through distance programs. Gerald Green
A college degree is not essential, but if you’re already in college, and if it’s at all possible, you should definitely try to finish. In college, you have a very supportive community right there, and it can give you opportunities to try out new things. K. Flay
While there have been news reports of recent college graduates living with their parents because they have been unable to find a job paying a salary sufficient to move out, their near and long-term career prospects remain far brighter than for those without a college degree. Elaine Chao
Subsidies and grants throw off the natural market signals that are supposed to allow students to make informed decisions on the true value of a college degree. Increasing aid, and expanding subsidies only intensifies the problem which will lead us down a path of more college dropouts and a continuation of skyrocketing tuition. Charlie Kirk
If you’re graduating from high school, and you come from a lower income family, you’re effectively given two options. One is get a four-year college degree; two is work at a low-wage job, potentially for the rest of your life. We’ve got to do better on that front. We have to provide more options. J. D. Vance
Getting a college degree used to be free or low cost because, as a society, we saw providing higher education to young people as an investment – in them and in the future of our own country. Pramila Jayapal
A college degree was very important for them; it wasn’t for me. So I picked English because I’m fluent. I thought it would be the easiest to do. Nikki Glaser
The difference between our family and other poor families was that my mother actively chose to be poor. She was highly literate, and she had a college degree, but after my father left, she took the first secretarial job she could find and never looked for other employment again. Said Sayrafiezadeh
Students can spend their money better than government can. It should not require a federal loan and decades of debt for students to get a college degree. Price limits access – plain and simple. Rick Scott
It’s kind of like a college degree… when you get one, no one can take it from you. When you get to say for the rest of your life that you’ve got a platinum album, that really means something. Luke Bryan
The signing bonus is a ton of money, especially for a 21-year-old. But I’m not going to live off that money. At some point, I’m going to live off a college degree. Pat Connaughton
It seems everyone knows a college degree is important, but few have a plan to keep it affordable. LZ Granderson
My college degree is from a great university in 1944. I got my master’s at Harvard graduate school, completely co-ed, in 1945. My mother got her college degree in 1920. What’s the problem? Those opportunities were always there for women. Phyllis Schlafly
If I got hurt or anything, I was going to need a college degree. Nothing was going to stop me from getting that. Max Scherzer
I’m an intelligent and articulate person with a college degree and I can do whatever I want in the world. Matt Mitrione
I just got tired of not getting a lot of respect because I was young and female. I thought people would take me more seriously if I had a college degree. Jackie Fuchs
My mother was working on her college degree throughout my childhood, and being the youngest in the family, that meant being dragged to a lot of her classes. She majored in playwriting, so I was exposed to theatre from a very young age, and it was just the most magical world to me. Valorie Curry
My mother was working on her college degree throughout my childhood, and being the youngest in the family, that meant being dragged to a lot of her classes. She majored in playwriting, so I was exposed to theatre from a very young age, and it was just the most magical world to me. I never really wanted to do anything else. Valorie Curry
My whole life, they said, ‘Do not act. You need to get a college degree’. Billie Lourd
To people I know in the bottom income brackets, living paycheck to paycheck, the Gig Economy has been old news for years. What’s new is the way it’s hit the demographic that used to assume that a college degree from an elite school was the passport to job security. Tina Brown
Up until I was a junior at Georgia, I felt that when all was said and done, I’d at least have a college degree to fall back on when tennis was finished. John Isner