Former Goldman CEO Defends Value of College
Former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein disagreed with investor Peter Thiel's skepticism about the value of higher education. Blankfein argued that college is worthwhile because it helps make a person more "complete, curious, and interesting," which are valuable traits in the professional world.
- Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, has been a long-standing critic of higher education, arguing it's a "bubble" with escalating costs that don't deliver corresponding value. He contends that universities foster conformity and push talent into unproductive fields like law and finance instead of driving true innovation. - Thiel's "Thiel Fellowship," launched in 2011, pays young entrepreneurs $100,000 to drop out of or skip college to work on their business ideas, a program former Harvard President Larry Summers once called the "single most misdirected bit of philanthropy in this decade." - Despite this debate, competition for entry-level jobs at top financial firms remains intense. Goldman Sachs, for instance, recently received over 300,000 applications for approximately 2,500 undergraduate positions, an acceptance rate of less than 1%. Similarly, the firm's internship program in 2024 had an acceptance rate of just 0.72%, with 315,000 applicants for 2,600 spots. - Major financial firms continue to heavily target specific elite universities for their recruitment pipelines. Goldman Sachs traditionally focuses its campus recruiting on Ivy League schools like the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Harvard, and Columbia, though it has expanded to include other top-tier universities like Duke and the University of Michigan. - While a degree from a target school is a primary pathway, some major financial institutions like Citi and Bank of America have begun to welcome applicants without a four-year college degree for certain roles. Alternative routes are emerging through apprenticeships and specialized certifications such as the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) or Financial Risk Manager (FRM). - Hiring in the financial sector is increasingly shifting to focus on specific skills, even for campus recruits. In-demand competencies include data analytics, financial modeling, proficiency with tools like Python and Tableau, and knowledge of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) frameworks.
