By Rachel Sincore, NACAC Communications

From left to right: Ellen M. Granberg, Chris Nienstedt, Lauren Bucci, and Amber Alexander

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 9 — Amber Alexander works with a manager at Medtronic who is excellent at storytelling and rallying people together. They are unexpected skills to see at a medical technology company, so Alexander, the vice president of global talent management, asked him about his background. Turns out, he used to be involved in theater. 

That, according to Alexander, represents one of the many reasons why college is still so valuable today — it gives students the chance to try new things and develop an array of valuable skills outside of their job description.   

"Go to college to learn how to learn," she said. "It builds a curiosity mindset and allows you to try new things." 

At NACAC Conference 2026 on Oct. 9, Alexander joined Lauren Bucci, talent acquisition manager at CHS Inc., and Chris Nienstedt, vice president of human resources and global talent management at General Mills, in a panel discussion about college's role in the future of work. The panel was moderated by Ellen M. Granberg, president of George Washington University.  

The discussion centered around what Granberg called "one of the most high-stakes, foundational questions" asked by students and families today — is college still worth it? 

The resounding answer from the panelists was "yes," and according to Nienstedt, it is becoming more important than ever in the age of artificial intelligence. "Human skills," he said, are what's essential now, and college is a great place to learn them. 

"Developing that real-life judgement is more important than ever. The human skills matter more than the hard skills now," he said, as AI is doing more task-oriented work. "We're looking for [prospective employees] to have good judgment, to be able to get work done with others, and to leverage the power of the team and the organization." 

Bucci at CHS Inc. said, in terms of AI, it's expected that employees know how to use it. "It won't do your job for you, but it can help you. Understanding how to use it without it eroding your critical thinking skills or your judgement is what we need you to bring." 

Though the panelists agree that college is worth it, they also agree that there's room for improvement.  

Colleges must keep up with changing technology and give students opportunities to safely engage with it before they enter the workforce. They also should help develop students' ability to deal with ambiguity. 

"I love that students are learning diverse perspectives and thought processes; that's normal in the workforce," said Alexander. "Where we need to hone-in is an understanding that there's often no right, perfect answer. You don't get an A, B, or C in the workforce. How can we build that into their experience?" 

Nienstedt added: "Colleges are preparing students to question things, and that's great to identify where we can do things differently. An area of opportunity is the experience of failure. There are things where the answer isn't clear and it might not feel great. We must build that resilience and the ability to reflect and grow." 

Those abilities and skillsets, the panelists said, will help recent graduates grow. Earning a college degree is a great foundation — a "shared language," said Alexander — to enter the workforce, and its skills that will carry graduates forward in their careers. 

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