GradSimple Industry Insiders: Jackson Yip

Disclaimer: The views expressed by our interviewees are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of GradSimple. We only edit these responses for clarity. All opinions remain those of the interviewee.

• Role: Director of Development, National University of Singapore Business School

Could you introduce yourself and briefly explain your background?

I got my college degree in philosophy, funded by the Singapore government. I was a scholarship holder, so besides having free tuition, I had pocket money every month, a free dormitory, and all of that.

Because my dad was illiterate, he couldn’t really guide me academically, so as a young guy, I just picked what I thought was cool, which was philosophy. In the Singapore context, philosophy is actually one of the hardest liberal arts subjects to score well in. It’s much easier for Singaporean students to do things like mathematics or accounting, but I chose philosophy and did well in it.

What degrees did you earn, and what was your role at the National University of Singapore?

I earned a bachelor’s degree in social sciences with a major in philosophy from NUS. My PhD was in business, specializing in behavioral finance.

Because I had a PhD and had stayed connected to academia, many of my contemporaries had become department heads, professors, deans, and university leaders across Singapore. So I had a broad network within higher education. After about a 20-year career in the private sector, I joined the NUS Business School as Director of Development. My job was essentially fundraising from donors.

Over the past 30 years, I watched college education expand dramatically. More people became qualified for university, and Singapore gradually started adopting aspects of the American higher education model.

From your perspective, how has higher education changed over time?

Singapore originally followed the British system, which is much more efficient. For example, if you wanted to become a lawyer, you would finish high school and then directly study law for three years. Singapore initially followed that structure.

But increasingly, Singapore adopted the American model, where students complete an undergraduate degree first and then pursue graduate or professional school afterward. That system becomes very expensive if students have to take on debt.

At the same time, governments reduced subsidies for higher education and shifted toward student loan systems. The result is that many students now graduate with debt while their degrees don’t necessarily generate enough financial return to justify the cost.

Do you think college is still worth it today?

College has become a business. In the U.S., you have state colleges and private colleges, and private colleges are often two or three times more expensive. But even public universities have become much more expensive because state governments began reducing education subsidies starting in the 1990s.

As tuition increased, universities hired more administrators, marketers, and fundraisers. University presidents and executives now often make corporate-level salaries, sometimes over a million dollars annually.

Their performance is measured by growth. They need more students, higher tuition, and more revenue. That means universities increasingly recruit international students and out-of-state students because they pay full tuition.

The issue is that many degrees no longer produce enough financial return to justify the cost. There are still professions where college absolutely makes sense, like medicine, law, nursing, engineering, and other licensed professions. But for many general degrees like marketing or economics, much of the knowledge can now be learned online. Employers increasingly care more about practical skills, like whether you can do online marketing, create videos, build an audience, or use digital tools. Nowadays, there is an oversupply of college graduates.

Is simply having a degree still valuable?

Yes, having a degree still opens doors. For example, government jobs, military roles, and police work often offer better opportunities or higher starting salaries to degree holders. But the important thing is not to overpay for college or take on excessive debt.

Community colleges are often a much smarter route. Students can complete prerequisites cheaply and then transfer credits to larger universities. And when students have flexibility in choosing courses, they should prioritize subjects with practical or professional applications rather than purely academic interests.

What are your thoughts on university career centers and alumni networks?

I can speak fairly openly as an insider. Universities are businesses, and career centers are part of the marketing system. Colleges need students to enroll so programs remain financially viable. Many outcome surveys universities publish are selective and can be misleading. Schools often highlight successful graduates while less successful outcomes disappear from the statistics.

Most university career centers are actually quite limited. Often, they provide resume reviews, LinkedIn advice, and basic interview preparation. But many career advisors themselves are not deeply connected to current industry realities. Business schools tend to invest more heavily in career services because MBA rankings heavily depend on employment outcomes.

As for alumni networks, they do help somewhat, but universities primarily maintain alumni relationships for fundraising and donations. Their utility for actual job placement is often overstated.

Based on everything you’ve seen, what advice would you give young people thinking about higher education today?

Don’t overpay for college, don’t take on unnecessary debt, choose practical and marketable skills, and don’t pursue more education just because your first degree isn’t working.

A lot of colleges are ultimately selling a product, and education has increasingly become consumption rather than investment. Today, initiative, adaptability, and practical skills matter more than collecting credentials.