Alma Mater: What a College Diploma Cannot Give You, and What God Can

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It has become one of my favorite times of the year. Watching our newly minted undergraduate students hear their names called as they march across the Library Plaza stage to receive a scrolled document, which is a proxy for their ultimate graduate diploma (to be sent, of course, once we verify that they completed all of their studies). They enter as young adults who have achieved success in their local community by surviving a very challenging high school experience. They enter the academy having once been top dogs as high school seniors, but now find themselves starting again at the bottom, navigating a multiplicity of experiences on the road to this final graduation day.

Many enter the academy after having moved away from family for the first time. They now live in a new place with four or five strangers in their apartments. They must navigate new schedules and work opportunities. Some of them are athletes who must balance their athletic schedule and new class requirements.

Most of these students have successfully made it through four or five years of undergraduate studies here at our University in order to reach this commencement ceremony. Nationally, according to the NCES (2020), some 64 percent of students had completed a bachelor’s degree at the same institution where they started. Some will transfer and complete their degrees online or at another school. Only 44 percent of first-time bachelor’s degree recipients in Academic Year 2015–16 completed their degree in four years or less (NCES, 2017).

A few of our new entrants will decide that this college experience is not right for them. It is not right for everyone, and there are plenty of good-paying skilled jobs that these men and women can pursue while earning a very nice living (Tedards, 2026). In our area, a resort city requires workers, not necessarily highly educated ones, to staff the hotels, prepare the meals, and wait on customers during the busy seasons.

So what will these graduates gain now that they have completed their pursuit of that precious diploma? The data has always suggested that, on average, college graduates fare better in their earnings over a lifetime than those who do not pursue a degree. According to one independent research site (EducationData.org), the average bachelor’s degree recipient has a 681.95 percent lifetime return on investment, with a median lifetime return of up to 1,041.85 percent (Hanson, 2024). This figure is based on an average investment scenario (Hanson, 2024). Meanwhile, this same source suggests that, as of 2023, the average investment to achieve that prized degree would cost the student and/or their parents about $255,000. This investment projection considers an average of five years to get the degree, along with the costs of tuition, room and board, and even the interest on their student loans (Hanson, 2024).

While the debate on the value of that college degree versus the debt incurred to obtain it escalates due to the rising cost of college (Fry, Braga, and Parker, 2024), what have these graduates actually gained from their educational journey? When being interviewed by a prospective employer, our new graduates must express that what they have achieved is not simply evidenced by a GPA number. They have gained experience in successfully completing tasks and in meeting deadlines. They have been encouraged to gain knowledge of the world outside of their own experiences through various internships and research with actual employers. This knowledge will serve them greatly in their future pursuits.

These new graduates have had to solve problems and come up with solutions that others could not see, as we critically review business decisions through case studies of failed businesses and successful turnarounds. Our students have had the benefit of hindsight to assess what solutions were implemented by individuals trying to save their business, and whether these decisions led to growth or stagnation. This will serve them well if they find themselves in a similar situation. Most of all, our students have learned to trust that this institution and its leaders have spoken positively into their lives, because we believe in them and want to see them succeed in their life and in their faith. In our setting, indoctrination is not part of the curriculum. Giving these young men and women the opportunity to challenge assumptions and to push back on positions taken is all part of the process of learning to think for themselves, provided that they support their premises with data.

While college graduation comes with many nice things, including accumulated debt and a shiny new diploma, suitable for framing of your choice, there are two other things which this graduation does not provide: two things that are readily available from the Lord our God.

The first is an anointed calling. Each of us has been blessed with abilities and an opportunity for a special “blessing” if we use those abilities for God’s glory (see Matthew 25:15). In Matthew’s gospel, the talents in this parable were given according to the servants’ abilities. These talents represented God-given resources entrusted to each individual. While historically a “talent” represented a financial resource, the parable serves as an allegory for the spiritual stewardship obligations of those entrusted with them (Blomberg, 2012). The “blessing” at the end of the parable, the invitation to enter into the Master’s joy, represents a definitive spiritual reward for those who recognize their work as a divine assignment rather than a secular duty (Witherington III, 2006). According to Father Robert Sirico, the founder and director of the Acton Institute, “it is God who has entrusted [us] with His talents, and He expects [us] to be industrious with them; to be productive with them; to be creative with them” (Sirico, 1996, p. 65).

The second thing that college graduation does not provide, but which the Lord God will provide for us if we ask (James 1:5), is divine wisdom. The Bible says that if we ask for wisdom, we must believe by faith that we will receive it and not doubt (James 1:6). While human wisdom is the application of knowledge gained over time, divine wisdom, again according to James’s epistle, “is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17 ESV). Wayne Grudem wrote that godly wisdom “means that God always chooses the best goals and the best means to those goals” (Grudem, 2020). People who use this godly wisdom, according to Grudem, “always will bring about the best results (from God’s ultimate perspective), and [they] will bring about those results through the best possible means” (Grudem, 2020). This wisdom is invaluable to lead our graduates to apply what they have learned to the challenges they will face.

There are many different graduation-type events in our lives. We trace much of this to our school years: middle school graduation, high school graduation, college graduation, and so on. Each graduation event recognizes a significant achievement in our procession to adulthood. But there are other graduation-type events that mark a “rite of passage” in our lives. There is achieving that first big job, or becoming a homeowner. There is the day that we get married, or the day we become a new parent or grandparent. There are still other graduation-type events, such as the day the family heritage passes on to us upon the death of our parents, or the day that we finally retire from our working life. While some of these graduation-type events are clearly not as joyful as this college graduation day, they serve as markers, reminding us that our lives are not static but progressing through various stages. Each graduation event provides opportunity for several important things: a reflection on the circumstances that have led us to this point; thankfulness for those who have guided us to this point; a formal recognition of this transition; and a sense of completion as we move into this new phase.

Finally, there is another type of graduation that we don’t like to talk about in this life, but that the Bible talks about quite often, and that is our graduation from this life to the next. For this thought, we return to the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25). Those servants who had been trustworthy and who utilized their abilities to provide a return to the Master for the investment He made in them were greeted with a joyous invitation on their graduation day. At the Heavenly Commencement Ceremony, the Master of the Universe greeted His faithful followers with something more valuable than a rolled-up paper scroll. The Master proclaimed, “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the joy of your Master” (Matthew 25:23). On that day we will sing our Alma Mater: “What a Day; what a glorious Day that will be” (Hill, 1955)!

Sources:

Blomberg, C.L. (2012). Interpreting the Parables. Lisle, IL: IVP Academic.

Fry, R.; Braga, D.; & Parker, K. (2024, May 23). Is College Worth It? Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/05/23/is-college-worth-it-2/.  

Grudem, W.A. (2020). Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Academic.

Hanson, M. (2024, December 30). College Degree Return on Investment. Education Data Initiative. Retrieved from https://educationdata.org/college-degree-roi.

Hill, J. (1955). What a Day That Will Be! Nashville, TN: Ben Speer Music Company

LaChance, M. (2026, May 7). University President: Higher Ed ‘Brainwashing’ Leading to Trump Assassination Attempts. Legal Insurrection [News Blog]. Retrieved from https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/05/university-president-higher-ed-brainwashing-leading-to-trump-assassination-attempts/.

National Center for Education Statistics-NCES (2017). Time to Degree. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=569.

National Center for Education Statistics-NCES (2020). Undergraduate Graduation Rates. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=40.

Sirico, R.A. (1996) The Entrepreneurial Vocation, Beyond Integrity: Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.  P. 60-66.

Tedards, S. (2026). 20 High-Paying, No-Degree Jobs. US News: TeenLife [Web Blog]. Retrieved from https://www.teenlife.com/blog/no-degree-jobs/.

Witherington III, B. (2006). Matthew. Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary: Book 22 of 38. Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys Publishing