> [!abstract] > Academic or degree inflation is the idea that the value of a degree only ever decreases from the moment it is conferred. ## Causal factors - The democratization of higher education, which leads to tertiary degrees being less scarce, and therefore less valuable. - The [[half-life of knowledge]], which leads to the knowledge acquired through the degree becoming less valuable over time as new knowledge supersedes it. - Degree holders forgetting the knowledge they acquired through memory attrition. ## Implications In turn, employers respond to the surplus of qualified graduates by increasing their demand for academic qualifications for a given level of employment over time ([[Fuller & Raman, 2017]]; [[Morgan, 2021]]). College graduates start taking high-school jobs, and overall economic efficiency decreases as students spend extra years pursuing degrees that they will not fully utilize ([[Yi & McMurtrey, 2013]]). In certain cultures like China, they also bear a social stigma from family and friends from accepting jobs well below what they're qualified for ([[McDonell, 2025]]). >[!related] >- **North** (upstream): [[Credentialism]]; [[Half-life of knowledge]] >- **West** (similar): — >- **East** (different): — >- **South** (downstream): [[Elite overproduction]]; [[Overqualification]]; [[Underemployment]]