Is Education a Pyramid Scheme? Why 'No Job' Doesn't Mean 'No Value'

My friend studied Fishery in a federal university. 4 years, Project, Defense, Certificate. 

5 years later, he still can’t get a job in fishery. No company is hiring. The farms want "experience." 

So what did he do? He’s paying even MORE money to go back and do PhD. Why? So he can teach other people Fishery in the same school.

In his case, school looks exactly like a pyramid scheme. Pay money → Get degree → Teach others to pay money → And the cycle continues.

I’ve heard it 100 times:  

"Education is a pyramid scheme. You go to school, spend millions, graduate, and there’s no job."

And honestly? I get the frustration. 

I have a friend with a First Class in Biochemistry who is currently doing POS business. 

I have a cousin who learned video editing from YouTube in 3 months and is now earning more than our lecturer. 

I have spent 5 years in uni, collected certificate, and my first "job" was applying for 200 jobs with no reply.

So it feels like a scam. Like we were all told to "bring 2 people" and the people never came.

But what if we’ve been measuring education with the wrong ruler?What if school was never only about getting a job?  

What if its real product isn’t a salary, but a network, clarity, and the tools to build the life you want?

This is not a "school is perfect" essay.  

This is about separating the job problem from the education problem because when we call it a pyramid scheme, we miss the other ways school actually pays off.

Why People Call It a Pyramid Scheme?

Let’s be real about why this idea is spreading.

1. The math doesn’t add up - Pay millions in school fees → Spend 4-6 years → Graduate → "Now go and look for job." But the jobs are not there. It feels like "bring 2 people" and nobody is joining.

2. The job market didn’t grow - In 1995, 5000 graduates competed for 5000 jobs. In 2025, 500,000 graduates are competing for 50,000 jobs. The system didn’t expand, but we kept pushing more people in.

3. Success stories outside school - You see 19-year-olds on TikTok making 1M/month. You see dropouts building tech companies. So you start asking: "What was all that stress for?"

When the promise is "degree = job" and the job doesn’t show, of course it will feel like fraud.

The 3 Things School Gives You That Have No Payslip

I’m not here to defend ASUU strikes or 8-year courses. But let’s talk about what school actually gave me that I didn’t get from YouTube.

1. Social Capital

My classmates are my net worth. 

The girl I did group project with in 300L now runs a brand and contracts me for content. The guy I borrowed notes from is now in a bank and refers clients to me. 

The lecturer who failed me twice later connected me to my first freelance gig.

You don’t get that on YouTube comments. School forces you into a room with people for 4 years. Some will become your co-founders, clients, and collaborators. That network compounds over 10-20 years.

2. Identity Capital  

School is where you test yourself and fail safely. I thought I wanted to be a doctor until I failed Chemistry twice. I joined press club and realized I love writing. 

I did SIWES and knew I hate 9-5 office work.

School forces you to try things: leadership, public speaking, deadlines, teamwork. You leave knowing what you’re good at and what you hate. That’s expensive data to get in "real life."

3. Signal Capital

Let’s not lie. That certificate still opens doors. For visa applications. For NYSC. For some corporate jobs. For "respect" in some families.

It’s not fair, but the degree is still a signal. It says "this person could finish something for 4 years." Even if the job you want doesn’t need it, other doors do.

The Real Scam: Confusing Education With Employment

Here’s where we got it twisted.

Government and schools sold us one lie: "Degree = Job"  

But they never taught us the second part: "Degree = Options"

Education was never supposed to be a job placement agency. It was supposed to give you thinking skills, exposure, and time to figure yourself out. 

The real scam is that nobody told us to build skills alongside the certificate. We graduated with CGPA but no portfolio. With theory but no skill. With certificate but no network.

So when the job didn’t come, we blamed the certificate instead of the strategy.

So What Do We Do Instead?

If you’re in school now, or you have siblings in school, here’s the new playbook:

1. Go to school for goals, not just jobs

   "I’m going to uni to meet people in tech" is better than "I’m going to uni to get job." Be intentional.

2. Treat school as a 4-year networking + skill lab  

  Join clubs. Do internships. Learn a skill on the side: design, coding, writing, sales. Your certificate and your skill should graduate together.

3. Build before you graduate

Start the business in 200L. Start freelancing in 300L. Don’t wait until "after NYSC." By the time you graduate, you should have experience, not just results.

School won’t guarantee you a job. But it can guarantee you options — if you use it right. A pyramid scheme collapses when no new people join. Education doesn’t. 

Because 20 years later, your course mate might be the one who funds your business. Because the critical thinking you learned in GST will help you read contracts. Because the resilience from carrying 21 units will help you survive entrepreneurship.

The ROI of school is slow. And it’s rarely in your first salary.

I just graduated and I’m waiting to go to NYSC instead of waiting on a job. So I decided to create a job for myself that gives me value to people through my blog — even though I studied Quantity Surveying. 

Without the experiences, exposure, and people I met in school, I would never have been able to map out my niche and start this blog. School didn’t give me a job. But it gave me the clarity to build one.

So is school a scam? No. But treating it like a job guarantee is.The question isn’t "Did school fail me?"  The question is "What did I do with school while I was there?"

while I was in school I tried doing business, I bought Student Tote bags, press-on nails, hair clippers in wholesale and sold to mothers and girls as a retailer.  I did that business for a year during my finals and gained just the experience.

A/N

What do you think? Am I capping or is this true? Did school give you anything beyond a certificate? Drop it in the comments