It appears Elon Musk has never been a fan of college.
The CEO of Tesla has long argued that post-secondary education is “basically for fun” — not exactly comforting words for anyone juggling midterms or staring down student loans (1). And the data backs up that stress, as roughly 60% of grads say they’re “pessimistic” about their job prospects right now (2).
But Valerie Capers Workman, former vice president of HR at Tesla, isn’t buying into her former employer’s comments about college. She recently spoke at a conference at California State University, arguing that a degree is actually more valuable now because of artificial intelligence, not less.
“Do not let anyone, not a tech founder, not a headline, not a podcast host, convince you that your education was a waste,” Workman wrote in a recap of her keynote speech on LinkedIn (3). “It is more valuable today than it has ever been.”
Workman specifically defended liberal arts degrees. While tech skills tend to get all the current attention, she argued they don’t always age well. Meanwhile, AI can already write code and summarize reports, but it still struggles with context, judgment and the kind of thinking that isn’t easily automated.
Workman calls these skills the “source code” for emotional intelligence — the stuff machines can’t just download and replicate.
During the Defining the Future conference in mid-April, Workman pushed back on the idea — popular in tech circles — that college is losing its value.
Her point isn’t really about the credential itself. It’s about the way people learn — and whether those skills hold up as technology evolves.
“You do not get to say, ‘I am not a tech person.’ That identity is retired,” she said. “If you plan to work, lead, build, or earn in this economy, you must become fluent in artificial intelligence the way your parents’ generation had to become fluent in email and the internet, the way your grandparents’ generation had to become fluent in the personal computer.”
The reality is that technical skills can go in and out of demand quickly, especially with AI moving this fast. But the skills tied to a liberal arts education — things like critical thinking, communication and the ability to connect ideas — tend to hold up.
And that gap is becoming harder to ignore. AI can already handle a growing list of routine tasks, but what it can’t easily replicate is judgment — knowing what matters, what doesn’t, and how to apply information in the real world.
That doesn’t mean the job market is easy, though. If anything, it’s gotten tougher for recent grads (4). Entry-level roles have been shrinking, competition is rising and more applicants are chasing fewer openings.
So while degrees still matter, they’re not a guarantee for success. What seems to matter more these days is how people use them.
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It’s not difficult to see why many students remain skeptical. After all, tuition continues to soar and student debt is top-of-mind for many. As it currently stands, students and parents borrowed an estimated $102.6 billion in the 2024-2025 academic year, LendingTree reports (5).
Layer in the uncertainty around AI and it’s leaving a lot of students wondering what exactly they’re paying for. That uncertainty is showing up in the data, too. Many students say AI is part of why they feel uneasy about the future, on top of the usual concerns about landing a stable job.
A recent Gallup survey revealed 56% of college students say AI has prompted them to reconsider their field of study, while 16% admitted to changing their majors entirely because of it (6).
The broader economy isn’t exactly giving them much reassurance, either. Even with relatively low unemployment overall (7), younger workers tend to feel the squeeze first — especially when hiring slows for entry-level roles.
Workman sees things a bit differently.
Instead of viewing college as a straight line to a specific job, she frames it more as preparation for a career that will likely shift — possibly more than once.
In a job market like this, adaptability matters more than ever. Being able to learn quickly, communicate clearly and navigate unfamiliar problems can end up carrying more weight than any single technical skill.
That doesn’t mean everyone needs a liberal arts degree, but it does challenge the idea — put forward by Musk — that those degrees don’t pay off.
If there is a payoff, it may just be less immediate — and a little harder to measure. The bigger question isn’t just whether college is worth it — it’s what you’re actually taking from it, and whether that holds up in a rapidly changing job market.
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Yahoo (1); Handshake (2); LinkedIn (3); Business Insider (4); LendingTree (5); Gallup (6); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (7).
This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com under the title: Elon Musk says college is ‘for fun,’ but Tesla’s former HR boss says liberal arts degrees are more valuable than ever
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