Podcast · Business

Degree Free

Welcome to Degree Free! It’s our job to share fundamentals we’ve discovered and the mistakes we’ve made while self educating, getting work, building businesses, and making money. We’ll tell you how to make it happen, no degree needed!

New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 24 min
Latest: 13 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

13 Oct 2026 · 12 minNew

College Is Not a Backup Plan (The Hannah Maruyama Show #14)

Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch College just in case is a purchase, not a plan. I agree with George Kamel that a young woman needs more than the hope of marrying rich. But telling her to buy a degree skips the question that matters: what work would help her build the life she wants? A real backup plan has to work. Can she support herself? Can she get hired? Can…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

8 Oct 2026 · 42 min
College Sports: What Parents Don’t Know (Degree Free #209)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch Being good at high school sports can turn college into the next automatic step. We see families chase a scholarship, choose a school for its team, and assume a good career will follow. But playing a sport and building a career are two different goals. Your family needs to know which one is driving the choice. We break the decision…
6 Oct 2026 · 17 min
If Your Kid Got Merit Aid, Watch This First (The Hannah Maruyama Show #13)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch A $5,000 award can feel like a win. But it doesn't answer the question that matters: why is your child going to college? I share a call with an 18-year-old and her parents. Her school cost about $19,000 a year. She had no major picked out and no clear career goal. Her parents were worried about the cost, but they didn't want to lose…
1 Oct 2026 · 51 min
The Career Conversation Every Parent Should Have First (Degree Free #208)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch Most families plan the college step before they plan the career. We think that is the root problem. The FutureEd report "Future Shock: The Crisis in Career Navigation" shows how few teenagers feel ready to choose a career, even while many plan to buy a college degree. School counselors cannot solve this alone. The average counselor…
29 Sep 2026 · 24 min
Your Daughter’s Backup Plan Is the Trap (The Hannah Maruyama Show #12)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch I watched George Kamel ask a high school student about her plans. She said she had to go to college to get paid, then named pediatric sonography. When asked about debt, she said she would borrow up to $300,000 because she expected her degree to pay it back. Her answers show what happens when young adults are asked to choose a career…
24 Sep 2026 · 48 min
What the College System Isn’t Telling Parents (Degree Free #207)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch Colleges are facing a financial reckoning. Moody's expects more private colleges to run at a loss, and closures can leave students with debt but no credential. We share one case where a nearly finished dental hygiene student lost her program overnight. If your child needs a degree for a licensed career, checking the school's…
22 Sep 2026 · 13 min
Turn Any Teen Job Into a Real Advantage (Here’s How) (The Hannah Maruyama Show #11)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch Parents worry that skipping college will trap their teen in a job with no future. But a job is only a dead end when it does not serve a clear goal. The same grocery store role can become a holding pattern for one young adult and the first rung of a management career for another. I call the right starting point strategic entry-level…
17 Sep 2026 · 28 min
Parents Are Scared of AI. Nobody’s Warning Them About This (Degree Free #206)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch Recent college grad underemployment is at 42.5 percent, but that problem did not begin with AI. Many grads leave school without work experience, expect pay their skills do not support, and struggle to get the first job that can shape the rest of their career. Colleges would rather blame AI than admit their product is not preparing…
15 Sep 2026 · 15 min
Your Kid Can Have the College Life Without the Debt (The Hannah Maruyama Show #10)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch Parents often say they do not want college for their child, but they still fear taking away the college experience. I break down what that phrase really means. Most families are thinking about friends, parties, games, an apartment, independence, and time around other young adults. None of those things require enrollment. The two…
10 Sep 2026 · 26 min
How Colleges Use Merit Aid to Trap Families (Degree Free #205)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch Merit aid sounds like a reward. We think parents should see it as a sales tool. We start with a Ramsey Show caller whose family already has $200,000 in debt, student loans, a home equity loan, and a large mortgage. His daughter receives merit aid, and that small discount helps make another round of borrowing feel reasonable. But…
8 Sep 2026 · 21 min
Your Kid Can Be an Engineer Without a Degree (Here’s How) (The Hannah Maruyama Show #9)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch Parents hear engineering and picture one path: choose a major, buy a four-year degree, then apply for a job. That skips the most important question. What type of engineering fits the life your child wants? I explain what a Professional Engineer license is and why most engineering work does not require one. Then I walk through roles…
3 Sep 2026 · 53 min
Colleges Think 3-Year Degrees Fix This. The World Disagrees. (Degree Free #204)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch The degree-free shift is not just happening in the United States. China removed or suspended more than 12,000 undergraduate programs while adding new programs tied to fast-moving technical fields. In South Korea, SK hynix removed degree rules from major technical roles. In the United Kingdom, Marks & Spencer opened 1,000 training…
1 Sep 2026 · 21 min
What If the College Experience Has Nothing to Do With College (The Hannah Maruyama Show #8)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch The college experience is not something a school owns. It is the pattern of life many young adults enter between 18 and 22. They have more freedom, more time, and more chances to try new things. That is why this age can bring close friends, a spouse, a network, and real growth with or without a campus. I share what happened after I…
27 Aug 2026 · 44 min
College Is Making Your Kid Unemployable (Degree Free #203)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch A father earning $140,000 a year feels guilty because paying for his children's college could put him in debt. That guilt is common. Parents are told that buying a degree proves they love their child and protects their future. But signing a loan without a clear career reason can put retirement, savings, and the whole family at risk.…
E7 · 25 Aug 2026 · 21 min
If Your Son Left College and Is Stuck at Home (The Hannah Maruyama Show #7)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch I am talking about young men whose sadness, anger, or anxiety comes from being stuck without a clear goal. I am not talking about a diagnosed mental health disorder. For a son in this situation, the feeling that he is going nowhere may be accurate information about his life. Talking can help him carry that feeling, but it will not…
20 Aug 2026 · 18 min
The College Experience Was Never About College (Degree Free #202)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch Young adults are moving to college towns without enrolling. They are living near people their age, working strategic entry-level jobs, earning credentials, and building professional networks. They still get the social parts parents want from college, but they avoid tuition and loans. Some can even rent off-campus student housing…
E6 · 19 Aug 2026 · 18 min
College Won’t Save Your Son. This Will. (The Hannah Maruyama Show #6)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch Parents are told college will give their sons structure, maturity, friends, and a career. The data does not support that promise. College students report high levels of depression and anxiety. More than half of graduates start underemployed, and many remain there a decade later. Debt can delay marriage, homeownership, business…
16 Jul 2026 · 45 min
What College Will Take From Your Daughter (Degree Free #201)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch We want to talk about the worst advice we give young women right now, and it's this: if your daughter wants to be a stay at home mom, she needs a backup plan, and that backup plan should be college. We've been hearing this from financial personalities, guidance counselors, and well-meaning parents for decades. It sounds responsible.…
9 Jul 2026 · 32 min
The College ’Experience’ Isn’t Real (Degree Free #200)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch The college experience is one of the biggest reasons parents push their young adults toward a degree. But when you pull it apart, the experience people are describing has nothing to do with college. It's just what happens when you're between 18 and 22. You grow up. You make friends. You figure out who you are. College doesn't cause…
2 Jul 2026 · 19 min
Why This Mom Hired a Life Coach... (Degree Free #199)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch We got a call from a mom who was doing everything she thought she was supposed to do. Her son was 19, had left college, left trade school, and was stuck at home feeling depressed and directionless. Her solution was a life coach to help him feel better about where he was. We get why she did that. But we think it's the wrong move, and…
E1 · 30 Jun 2026 · 22 min
Your Teen Doesn’t Need College (Here’s Proof) (The Hannah Maruyama Show #5)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch Here's the thing most parents don't know: "degree required" on a job posting almost never means legally required. It means a company added a filter to avoid defending their hiring in court, a direct result of a 1971 Supreme Court case called Griggs vs. Duke Power. Degrees became a litigation shield, not a job requirement. And now…
E198 · 19 Jun 2026 · 38 min
Her 19 Y/o Son Needs Work (Not Therapy) (DF#198)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch We want to talk about what is actually happening to young men right now, and why college is making it worse, not better. The data is not subtle. Gen Z men with college degrees now have the same unemployment rate as degree-free Gen Z men. Four out of ten students who start college never finish. Of those who do graduate, 41% end up…
18 Jun 2026 · 21 min
Parents Need to Know This (Before Your Teen Enrolls in College) (HM#4)
Want to guide your 16-20 year old to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book Want a custom career plan for your 16-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch The whole K through 12 system is built around one goal: college enrollment. Schools track it, report it, and put it on banners. But enrollment tells you nothing about what happens after your child signs the form. So let me show you what the numbers actually say. About 62% of high school seniors enroll in college. Only 7% of jobs…
E199 · 4 Jun 2026 · 24 min
AI Will Create Your Teen's Career (The Hannah Maruyama Show #3)
Want a custom career plan for your 18-20 year old? ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch Want to guide your 16-20 year old to their future career: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book
E197 · 28 May 2026 · 28 min
Save Your Sons: What Parents Need to Know (DF#197)
Want to guide your child to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book/ Want a custom career plan for your 18-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch
E197 · 25 May 2026 · 27 min
Why New College Grads Can't Get Jobs (It's Not AI) (The Hannah Maruyama Show #2)
Want a custom career plan for your 18-20 year old? ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch Want to guide your 16-20 year old to their future career: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book
7 May 2026 · 19 min
The Real Threat to Your Kid’s Career Isn’t AI... It’s Outdated Advice (The Hannah Maruyama Show #1)
Want a custom career plan for your 18-20 year old? ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch Want to guide your 16-20 year old to their future career: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book
E196 · 14 Jan 2026 · 17 min
Career Planning for Middle and High Schoolers (DF#196)
Want to guide your child to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book/ Want a custom career plan for your 18-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch Helping your child explore different interests and possible career paths early on can shape how they see themselves and their future. In this episode, we share simple ways parents can help kids under 15 discover new skills, build confidence, and stay curious about the world around them. Many kids only know a handful of careers because those…
E195 · 14 Jan 2026 · 33 min
How to Talk to Your Teen About Their Future Career Path (DF#195)
Want to guide your child to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book/ Want a custom career plan for your 18-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch Many parents feel overwhelmed when their teen is getting close to graduation and still doesn’t have a clear plan for what comes next. In this episode, we talk about how to help your teenager make real, informed decisions about their future — whether that includes college, work, training, or another path. We explain why most high schools…
E194 · 14 Jan 2026 · 29 min
From Lost and Stuck to Career Ready: A Parent's Action Plan (DF#194)
Want to guide your child to careers that help them reach their goals? Check out our workbook set: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/book/ Want a custom career plan for your 18-20 year old? Apply for the Degree Free Launch Program: ➡️ https://degreefree.com/launch In this episode we talk about one of the biggest challenges parents face today: helping young adults find career direction when they’re out of high school, in college, or unsure whether college is the right path. Drawing from our experience working with hundreds of students and young adults, we break down the three most common “lost window”…

About Degree Free

Degree Free is a English business podcast from Degree Free. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Degree Free
Language: English
Category: Business
New episodes: Weekly
Typical length: 24 min
Latest episode: 13 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1573874032

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