There is a conversation happening at kitchen tables, in church halls, and at family reunions across Black America every spring. A graduate walks across a stage, diploma in hand, tassel turned, photographs taken — and then the real world arrives. Months pass. The calls go unreturned. The entry-level job requires three years of experience. The degree that was supposed to open every door is sitting in a frame while the bills pile up.
This is not a knock on higher education. A college degree still matters. In many fields, it is the price of admission. But here is the truth that too many of our students and parents are not hearing loudly enough: a degree is the floor, not the ceiling. It is the minimum. What you build on top of it and alongside it determines whether it becomes a launching pad or an expensive piece of paper.
As families across Indianapolis and across the country prepare for another fall semester, it is time to have a more honest conversation about what college should actually produce.
Choose a degree the market will respect
Not all degrees are created equal and pretending otherwise does our young people a disservice.
This is not about discouraging passion. It is about pairing passion with strategy. A student who loves storytelling can pursue communications, journalism, or marketing — all fields with genuine demand. A student drawn to helping people can explore health care administration, social work, nursing, or public policy. Curiosity about how things work can lead to engineering, computer science, or environmental science. The arts, history, and philosophy develop extraordinary thinkers — but students pursuing those paths need to be especially intentional about how they will translate that education into employment.
Before choosing a major, families should research the job market the same way they research anything else they invest in. Look at Bureau of Labor Statistics projections. Talk to people working in the field. Ask hard questions: What does someone with this degree actually do on Day One of their career? What do they earn in year five? What does the field look like in ten years?
Artificial intelligence, health care, clean energy, cybersecurity, and financial services are among the sectors showing durable, long-term growth. That does not mean every student must pivot to tech. It means every student should understand the economic landscape they are entering and choose a path with their eyes open.
A degree chosen thoughtfully, in a field with genuine opportunity, is an investment. A degree chosen without research, in a shrinking or oversaturated field, can become debt without a return.
Build your network before you need it
Here is something the college brochure rarely says plainly: who you know will matter as much as what you know.
This is not cynicism. This is how opportunity moves in the real world and Black students, who are often entering professional spaces where they have fewer built-in connections, need to be especially strategic about building their networks early and intentionally.
Networking is not schmoozing. It is relationship-building with purpose. And college is the ideal time to begin.
Start with the resources already available on campus. Join professional organizations in your field. Attend career fairs — not just to collect pens, but to have real conversations and follow up afterward. Seek out professors who are connected to industry and introduce yourself. Find a mentor, ideally someone who looks like you and has navigated the spaces you want to enter.
Look beyond campus walls. Organizations like the National Urban League, the NAACP, Black professional associations in your chosen field, and chambers of commerce that serve the Black business community are invaluable connectors. LinkedIn, used intentionally, can open doors that a résumé alone cannot.
The goal is to graduate with a network, not just a diploma. Because when the job opens up before it is ever posted publicly, and it often does, it is the person someone knows and trusts who gets the call.
Parents, you have a role here, too. Share your contacts. Introduce your student to people in your circle who are working in fields they care about. A simple introduction can change the trajectory of a young person’s life.
Invest in skills that travel everywhere
The most marketable thing a graduate can carry into any room is not the name of their university. It is the ability to communicate clearly, think critically, lead confidently and adapt quickly.
These are the transferable skills — and they are increasingly rare. Employers consistently report that new graduates struggle with professional communication, conflict resolution and the ability to speak persuasively under pressure. These are not personality flaws. They are skills that can be learned, practiced and sharpened.
College offers countless opportunities to develop them if students are intentional about seeking those opportunities out. Join a debate club, a student government body, or a campus organization that puts you in front of people. Take a public speaking course seriously, not just as a requirement to check off. Volunteer to present at every opportunity. Write for the campus paper. Lead a project team.
Seek internships and part-time work in your field, even when they are inconvenient or unpaid because the experience of functioning in a professional environment before graduation is irreplaceable. Show up early. Follow through. Ask questions. Those experiences build a professional reputation before you even have a career.
Financial literacy is also a transferable skill that too few young people graduate with. Understanding how to budget, manage debt, build credit, and invest is not a luxury, it is a survival tool and a wealth-building foundation. Seek it out.
Every skill you build in college becomes part of what we might call your personal portfolio, the full picture of who you are as a professional and a person.
The degree is only as valuable as the person holding it
A college degree, on its own, is a credential. Combined with a marketable skill set, a strong professional network, and the ability to communicate your value — it becomes a career.
The students who thrive in today’s economy are not always the ones with the highest GPA. They are the ones who showed up, built relationships, developed real skills, and entered the workforce knowing who they are and what they bring.
To the parents investing in your child’s education: push them to be strategic, not just studious. To the students sitting in orientation this fall: the degree is the beginning of the work, not the end of it.
Walk across that stage prepared not just with a diploma, but with a network, a skill set, a sense of purpose, and a plan. That is the full package. That is what the market rewards. And that is what this moment demands.
Kelin Mark is an educator, consultant, and author. Follow him on Instagram @assisttheprincipal or visit kelinmark.com.
KELIN MARK
Kelin Mark is an educator, consultant, and co-founder of The Dad Difference. Follow him on Instagram @assisttheprincipal. Visit his website at www.kelinmark.com.
