A single epiphany doesn't justify the cost of college

A single epiphany, no matter how powerful, doesn’t justify the enormous cost of college.

Of the few people who still defend college when I tear it apart, one of the most common defenses goes something like this:

“I get your point, but when I was in college . . .”

“I had this one moment when
[insert epiphany here]”

Or, “Yeah, but at college I met [insert contact who became an important professional connection].”

Or, “I took [insert class name], which sent me down the path I’m on today.”

I don’t doubt the genuinely meaningful, even life-changing, nature of these experiences. But . . .

A single epiphany or relationship or tidbit of knowledge does not justify the time, cost, or structure of universities.

Think about what we’re really saying when we use these examples as a defense.

We’re using one random outcome to justify four years, tens/hundreds of thousands of dollars, delayed entry into the workforce, and opportunity cost that compounds for decades.

that math simply doesn’t work

This defense assumes something even more problematic: no moment of equal or greater value could have possibly happened outside of college’s hallowed walls.

That assumption is false.

People have breakthroughs while working, traveling, starting businesses, serving in the military, creating art in their apartment, learning online, or simply being exposed to new ideas in random day-to-day situations.

They meet mentors, partners, and lifelong friends in all kinds of environments.

transformative moments and personal growth are not exclusive to a campus

We’re giving credit to college for those defining moments. The problem is that these moments are almost never intentionally designed outcomes by the institution itself.

They aren’t engineered by the curriculum. They aren’t guaranteed. They aren’t predictably repeatable.

They’re random.

They happen because groups of people are interacting with each other.

Something meaningful is bound to happen.

that is true of any gathering place

I don’t give the coffee shop credit for me bumping into my future wife, and I don’t give college credit for a random beneficial moment that happened on their campus.

Luck is not a business model. Serendipity is not justification for a system that takes $100,000 and four years of life from you.

And on top of it all, the fact that a person can usually point to only one or two impactful moments should actually raise red flags, not resolve them.

Ideas matter. Relationships matter. Memorable experiences matter. But a single epiphany, a single professor, a single class doesn’t “save it all.”

So, the question isn’t whether college can produce meaningful moments. Of course it can.

The real question is whether a single random moment that could happen anytime, anywhere is worth the tremendous cost and delay of college . . . especially with better models on the horizon.